Український центр вивчення Голокосту

Studying the history of the Holocaust tragedy in the Academy of the State Penitentiary Service: Relevance, Opportunities and Challenges

On 2 May 2024, the Penitentiary Academy of Ukraine in Chernihiv hosted a roundtable discussion "Studying the History of the Holocaust Tragedy in the Academy: Relevance, Opportunities, and Challenges", which was joined by scholars and students of the Academy, Director of the Ukrainian Center for Holocaust Studies, PhD Anatolii Podolskyi; Head of the Jewish Community of Chernihiv Oleksandr Chevan; and representative of the Jewish Museum in Krakow Viktoria Mudrytska.

The Penitentiary Academy of Ukraine is a modern European-style higher education institution that actively engages young people in spreading knowledge about the tragedies of past generations and raising a conscious and tolerant generation that understands the unacceptability of cruelty and discrimination in the modern world.

It is important to note that the Academy is actively involved in international projects that provide an opportunity to tell the world the stories of previous generations of Ukrainian Jews. The results of the project Know. Care. Remember Project, which was carried out at the Academy in 2021-2023 with the support of the Ukrainian Center for Holocaust Studies and TOLI - The Olga Lengyel Institute for Holocaust Studies and Human Rights (New York, USA), was presented by Alla Popruzhna at the event.

During the roundtable, research and teaching staff shared their experience of using Centropa materials in the educational process and students, in their turn, presented the collected video materials of Holocaust testimonies and family stories related to the tragedy. The guests of the roundtable joined in the discussion and exchange of experience.

"Ukrainians now are in the process of learning about themselves: rethinking their culture, studying history and getting to know themselves. And you're doing a great job", – Edward Serotta.

Programme

Photo gallery

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]

Studying the history of the Holocaust tragedy in the Academy of the State Penitentiary Service: Relevance, Opportunities and Challenges

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