Український центр вивчення Голокосту

Living History of the Testimonies All-Ukrainian Field Summer School on Holocaust Studies took place in the Crimea

The participants of the all-Ukrainian Field Summer School “The Holocaust through the Eyes of the non-Jewish Population (Russians, Ukrainians, Crimean Tatars) on the Example of the Crimean Peninsula” attempted at recreation of the tragic pictures of the WWII in the Crimea basing on the witness’ statements. Field research by the associates of the Crimean Ethnographic Museum, university students, and senior high school students was done at August 4-12th, 2006 in Krasnogvardeyskiy region (former Kurman-Kemeltchinskiy) and Razdolnoye village (former Ak-Sheikh), where before the War lived a large Jewish population and existed Jewish national kolkhozes.
The Summer school was organised by Ukrainian Centre for Holocaust Studies (director Anatoly Podolsky). The author and manager of the project is Tatyana Velichko, postgraduate student of the Institute for Arts, Folklore, and Ethnology of NAS of Ukraine. “Unfortunately, there are few protagonists of Oral history method in Ukraine, that is why our Summer school became an important stage in qualifying specialists for the future work in the field. Usual history methods only when combined with oral history can give the general picture. – notes Tatyana Velichko. – because Jewish kolkhozes and neigbouring areas had polyethnic surrounding: Russians, Ukrainians, Crimean Tatars, Germans etc. – we were especially interested in their perception of the Holocaust and inter-ethnic relations of the pre-war period”.
Stories of the local dwellers-witnesses to those events made it possible to find one more place of execution of Jews in times of WWII in Bashennya str in Razdolnoye village. The place is now occupied by water tower. Besides the statements about the tragedy of Jews, participants gathered information about another great tragedy – deportation of the Crimean Tatars in May 1944; and even some information about deportation of Crimean Germans.
Publication of the collection of the gathered data is planned.

Announcements

1/31/2026
Regulations of the XXVI I.B. Medvynsky All‑Ukrainian Competition of Student Research and Art Works “History and Lessons of the Holocaust” (2025–2026 Academic Year) [More]
1/27/2026
“HOLOCAUST COMMEMORATION AND THE UKRAINIAN SOCIETY: HERITAGE AND THE CHALLENGES OF TODAY” [More]
12/13/2025
Research Team Meeting for the Project “One Stone - One Life: 80 Stumbling Stones for Kyiv” [More]
11/23/2025
Scientific and Methodological Seminar for Ukrainian Educators at Yad Vashem [More]
10/28/2025
International Scholarly and Practical Conference “War in Historical and Individual Memory” [More]

12/18/2025
Research Team Meeting for the Project “One Stone - One Life: 80 Stumbling Stones for Kyiv”

On 13 December 2025, the first in‑person meeting of school research teams took place in Kyiv. These teams are currently studying the biographies for new Stumbling Stones. Five teams from Kyiv and one from Odesa - history teachers working together with their students - are each conducting their own research.
[More]
12/10/2025
Mnemonika NGO Held a Workshop on Holocaust Remembrance and Related Educational Practices

On 5-6 December 2025, Mnemonika NGO held a workshop in Rivne that brought together educators from across Ukraine to explore Holocaust remembrance, the local history of Sosonky, and contemporary approaches to teaching sensitive topics.
[More]
12/7/2025
Educational and Methodological Seminar for Ukrainian Educators at Yad Vashem (Jerusalem)

On 23–29 November 2025, a seminar for Ukrainian history teachers was held at the Yad Vashem Memorial. After a six‑year break, the Ukrainian Centre for Holocaust Studies resumed its annual teacher‑training programme in Jerusalem, one of its longest‑running educational initiatives, launched in 2006.
[More]
12/5/2025
The “Remembrance in Dialogue” Educational Project for Ukrainian Teachers

On 19 November 2025, within the framework of the Remembrance in Dialogue project organized by Insha Osvita and Austausch, a workshop was held for school history teachers dedicated to researching and teaching local Holocaust histories. The project focuses on preserving the memory of the Holocaust during Russia’s war against Ukraine.
[More]
12/3/2025
Blasphemy, Indifference, and Russian Propaganda: The Story of the Failed Creation of the Babyn Yar Museum

The Museum of the History of Kyiv has published a study by well-known Ukrainian historian Vitalii Nakhamanovych on the history of attempts to create a museum in Babyn Yar, the struggle for historical memory of this crime and tragedy in the history of Ukraine during World War II, a struggle that continues to this day.

[More]

Living History of the Testimonies All-Ukrainian Field Summer School on Holocaust Studies took place in the Crimea

Announcements

Latest News

Research Team Meeting for the Project “One Stone - One Life: 80 Stumbling Stones for Kyiv”

Mnemonika NGO Held a Workshop on Holocaust Remembrance and Related Educational Practices

Educational and Methodological Seminar for Ukrainian Educators at Yad Vashem (Jerusalem)

The “Remembrance in Dialogue” Educational Project for Ukrainian Teachers

Blasphemy, Indifference, and Russian Propaganda: The Story of the Failed Creation of the Babyn Yar Museum