Holocaust

"Modern Russia is a solid concentration camp." Interview on "Hromadske"

Interview with Anatolii Podolskyi on Hromadske.  A conversation about the importance of preserving historical and cultural memory and why it was impossible during the communist dictatorship in Ukraine?  During the interview, the issues of historical memory of the Second World War and the history of the Holocaust were discussed.  Why is it important to preserve historical and cultural memory and why does historical memory help us now to resist the enemy who wants to destroy our national and cultural identity?

In his interview, Anatoliy Podolskyi said in particular: "What is happening now is very important.  Because of the russian aggression against us we may question the teaching of the history of the Second World War, in particular, the history of the Holocaust.  Now we can no longer teach the way we taught until February 24, 2022.  We are doomed to associations, comparing the crimes of communism and National Socialism with the crimes of russia today."

 Also, while discussing at Hromadske, it was emphasized that during the Soviet period the topic of the Holocaust was silenced, as were the topics of the Ukrainian national movement, the Holodomor, prisoners of war, and forced labourers.  The Soviet regime was not interested in people, their suffering and grief.  It was profitable for the communist dictatorship to highlight only examples of heroism... Today, we suffer from russian imperial aspirations, the autocratic regime of our northern neighbour, in particular, because we did not sufficiently highlight and remember the past.

 At the end of the discussion, A. Podolskyi noted: "Russian aggression has been going on for 8 years and 8 months.  And we defend ourselves and beat the enemy.  We will win.  Many people give their lives for Ukraine.  Now there are many Ukrainian Jews at the front.  They, like all citizens of Ukraine, defend their own Motherland.  Thus, we understand that the tragedy of the Holodomor, the Gulag and the Holocaust is not someone else's story.  This is our common history…

Full text and audio recording of the interview