Holocaust

The impact of war and russian aggression against Ukraine on Holocaust research

On November 28, 2022, the head of the Ukrainian Center for Holocaust Study, candidate of historical sciences, Anatolii Podolskyi, spoke online at the meeting of the Academic Working group of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), which took place in Gothenburg (Sweden).

In his speech, A. Podolskyi emphasized that during the russian aggression and the war against Ukraine, in particular after the full-scale invasion on Ukrainian lands, new challenges appeared in the study and preservation of the memory of the Holocaust during the defense of the country against the brutal war crimes of the occupiers. During the years of independence in Ukraine, a school of humanitarian researchers was gradually formed on the issue of Holocaust Studies, this topic became an integral part of the study of the history of the Second World War in educational institutions of the country at all levels. Also, the politics and culture of commemorating the victims of the Holocaust appeared and achieved significant success in society and the state during the years of sovereign Ukraine.

After February 24, russian aggression in Ukraine kills people, destroys buildings, cultural monuments, memorial sites, including memorials and memorial signs to Ukrainian Jews who were victims of the Holocaust. Enemy’s bombs and rockets hit the territory of Babyny Yar in Kyiv, destroyed a part of the memorial in Drobitsky Yar in Kharkiv. As a result of the aggression and war, the teaching of the Holocaust History is also changing. Ukrainian researchers and educators began to compare the crimes of Hitler's and putin's dictatorships.

In such a way, A. Podolskyi noted that russian aggression and the aggressive policy of the russian occupiers are also destroying Ukrainian culture, which is connected with the history of the Jews of Ukraine, a culture that was carefully created during the years of independence. The enemy shows its primitive, terrible and cruel Ukrainophobia and Antisemitism.

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