Український центр вивчення Голокосту

The banality of evil: from Auschwitz to Mariupol

The YouTube channel "10 Questions to a Historian" featured an interview about the history of the Auschwitz death camp, which has become an undisputed symbol of Nazi crimes in World War II. This is the story of how some people (including educated and seemingly mentally healthy people) killed other people on a scale and systematic basis that had never been seen before. The "banality of evil" was that the virtue of loyalty turned bureaucrats into committed genocide performers.

Today, the Russian-Ukrainian war is the most urgent and painful problem for our country. The entire civilised world is paying attention to the events in Ukraine. Today, Russia is destroying the post-World War II system of international relations, undermining international peace and security by waging the largest continental war in Europe since World War II against a sovereign state. Now, just as eighty years ago, Ukraine is fighting against totalitarianism; fighting for the future - its own, and the future of Europe and the entire civilised world.

With the unfolding of russia's full-scale aggression against Ukraine, everyone felt that the memory of the crimes and experiences of the Second World War was being reflected in current events. The students already knew the interpretation of the words "genocide", "filtration camp", "Gauleiter", "ghetto" from their history classes, when they studied the totalitarian ideologies of the twentieth century. But the worst thing is that they have all heard these words in the context of the present, and they have encountered them in the twenty-first century.

Analysing the feedback, we can state that the meeting with Anatolii Podolskyi was definitely not without effect, as everyone received new historical knowledge and enjoyed the emotional presentation of the material.

Yuliia Rudenko, PhD, Associate Professor

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Announcements

7/7/2025
History of the Holocaust in Ukraine: Research, Education, Commemoration. Educational seminar-school. Kyiv 2025 [More]
6/27/2025
Research and Methodology Seminar "The History of Genocides in Ukraine: Lessons and Contemporary Challenges" [More]
6/2/2025
International scientific and methodological seminar “History of genocides in Ukraine: study of experience and contemporary challenges” [More]
5/26/2025
Lecture for Ukrainian diplomats at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine as part of the “Diplomacy of Memory” project [More]
5/18/2025
I.B. Medvynsky All-Ukrainian Competition of Student Research and Art Works “History and Lessons of the Holocaust” [More]

8/18/2025
Educational seminar-school “History of the Holocaust in Ukraine: Research, Education, Commemoration”

From 13 to 16 August 2025, the Ukrainian Center for Holocaust Studies, in partnership with Yad Vashem’s International School for Holocaust Studies, held its annual seminar The History of the Holocaust in Ukraine: Research, Education, Memory.
[More]
8/8/2025
Invisible. Resilience: The Past and Present of the Roma

On 2 August 2025, International Roma Genocide Remembrance Day, the exhibition Invisible. Resilience: The Past and Present of the Roma opened at the Living Memory Exhibition Centre of the Babyn Yar National Memorial Museum.
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8/4/2025
You're walking down the street and suddenly see a name. No Grand Words. But a Story.

This is a stumbling stone — a small concrete cube with a brass plate. Often unnoticed by those rushing past, but deeply eloquent to those who pause. Each stone marks a story. A life. And a memory returning to the city. Since August 2025, the Kyiv project “One Stone — One Life: 80 Stumbling Stones for Kyiv” has continued its work. This autumn will bring new installations, new names, new research, and new teams, which we will begin forming in September. Follow our announcements — it might just be you
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8/1/2025
Holocaust Memory: Ukrainian and Polish Experiences Public Lecture at the “Sense” Bookstore in Kyiv

On 28 July, the sixth meeting of the Polish Institute's History Club took place at the Sens bookshop in Kyiv. This time, the topic was the memory of the Holocaust and World War II — particularly relevant at a time when Ukraine is experiencing a new national trauma.
[More]
7/31/2025
Open Lecture on the Occasion of the International Remembrance Day for the Victims of the Roma Genocide at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine

On July 28, 2025, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine hosted a lecture marking the International Remembrance Day for the Victims of the Nazi Genocide of the Roma, organized as part of the “Memory Diplomacy” initiative.
[More]

The banality of evil: from Auschwitz to Mariupol

Announcements

Latest News

Educational seminar-school “History of the Holocaust in Ukraine: Research, Education, Commemoration”

Invisible. Resilience: The Past and Present of the Roma

You're walking down the street and suddenly see a name. No Grand Words. But a Story.

Holocaust Memory: Ukrainian and Polish Experiences Public Lecture at the “Sense” Bookstore in Kyiv

Open Lecture on the Occasion of the International Remembrance Day for the Victims of the Roma Genocide at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine