Presentation of the project "Bykivnia, Babyn Yar, Bucha - Between the massacre and memory about it".
Today, it is important not only to compare the crimes of the three dictatorial regimes, but also to explain their nature, under what circumstances there is a real possibility of mass murder and its justification. This project shows that it is possible and worthwhile to compare the two totalitarian regimes of the twentieth century without diminishing the memory of either of them, and that it is also worth analysing Ruscism in the context of communism and Nazism.
During the event, a website was presented, which reveals the crimes of the three occupation regimes on the territory of Ukraine: communism, Nazism, and Ruscism, in the form of stories about three places of memory in Kyiv and its suburbs - the graves in Bykivnia, Babyn Yar, and Bucha. The website will be available in Ukrainian first, with English and German versions to follow shortly.
The presentation of the project was also attended by:
Anton Drobovych,PhD, Head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory.
Ihor Kakolewski, Professor, Director of the Centre for Historical Research at the Polish Academy of Sciences in Berlin.
Roman Podkur, PhD, Senior Researcher at the Department of the History of State Terror of the Soviet Era at the Institute of History of Ukraine of the NAS of Ukraine, Head of the National Rehabilitation Commission.
Anatolii Podolskyi, PhD, Head of the Ukrainian Centre for Holocaust Studies, Leading Researcher at the I.F. Kuras Institute of Political and Ethnic Studies of the NAS of Ukraine.
Larysa Yakubova, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Head of the Department of History of Ukraine in the 20s and 30s of the Twentieth Century at the Institute of History of Ukraine, Corresponding Member of the NAS of Ukraine.
Iryna Ozarynska, artist, performer, author of the Silent Book "Triangle of Evil: Communism, Nazism, Ruscism".
Svitlana Liakhovets, author of the idea and project coordinator, head of the NGO Svitarta.
Tetiana Sheptytska, PhD, Deputy Chief Research Officer of the Bykivnia Graves National Historical and Memorial Reserve.
Ihor Bartkiv, Head of the Archival Department of the Bucha City Council.
The discussion was moderated by Nadiia Honcharenko, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Cultural Research of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine
The project is implemented by NGO Svitarta with the support of the EVZ Foundation
Project partners:
Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance
Zentrum für Historische Forschung Berlin
Lietuvos istorijos institutas
The SSU Sectoral State Archive
Bykivnia Graves National Memorial Reserve
National Historical and Memorial Reserve "Babyn Yar"
Archival Department of Bucha City Council
Announcements
MoreLatest News
-
Research on the Jewish Historical and Cultural Heritage of Ukraine
On 1 October 2025, [the Judaica Department of the Manuscript Institute] at the V. I. Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine held a seminar entitled Research into the Jewish Historical and Cultural Heritage of Ukraine (on the 10th anniversary of the Ukrainian Association of Judaica).
[More] -
Babyn Yar: Thousands of Memory Ravines Across Ukraine
On 9 September 2025, the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience held a teleconference between Odesa, Kharkiv, Dnipro and Zakarpattia, dedicated not only to the tragedy of Babyn Yar, but also to tens of thousands of sites of mass crimes throughout Ukraine.
[More] -
Seminar ‘How to Talk About the Holocaust with Schoolchildren’
On 26-28 September 2025, a methodological seminar entitled How to Talk About the Holocaust with Schoolchildren was held in Kyiv. Educators from nine regions of Ukraine gathered to learn, exchange experiences and seek answers to difficult questions. The seminar participants had already successfully completed the online course How to Talk About the Holocaust with Schoolchildren, which began on 10 June 2025, and now had the opportunity to continue their training in the format of direct professional communication.
[More] -
Unveiling of the Stumbling Stone in honour of Petro Chetverykov
📅 23 September at 16:00
📍 25a Beresteyskyi Avenue (near the T. H. Shevchenko Central Library for Children)
[More] -
A Ukrainian Jewish Century
The exhibition A Ukrainian-Jewish Century, organised by the educational organisation Centropa and previously shown in numerous cities across Ukraine, opened in early September at the Menachem Begin Heritage Centre in Jerusalem, Israel.
[More]