Genocides in the history of humanity and Ukraine: Memory, Memorialization, and Modern Challenges

The panel discussion is devoted to the discussion of the nature of genocides in the history of mankind - from biblical times, Darfur, the tragedy of Babyn Yar as a worldwide symbol of the Holocaust, to the genocidal practices of Russia in the modern war against Ukraine, as well as rethinking the culture of remembering mass genocides under the influence of today's problems and challenges.

What do we know and how do we remember genocides in world history? How is the memory of the Holodomor erased in the Ukrainian territories temporarily occupied by Russia, and why should these practices be considered one of the components of genocide? Why is it important for modern Ukraine to preserve the memory of the Holocaust, Babyn Yar as a symbol of genocide of Jews, and how does Putin's propaganda use painful topics to dehumanize Ukrainians? What is the world experience of commemorating mass genocides and how can it serve Ukraine?

Participants are historians Norman Naimark (United States) and Lyudmila Hrynevych (Ukraine), Genocide: A World History (Kyiv: HREC PRESS, 2024); Vladyslav Hrynevych, Sr. (Ukraine), Babyn Yar: History and Memory (Edited by Vladyslav Hrynevych, Sr. and Paul Robert Magocsi (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2023); Yehor Vradii (Ukraine) about the forthcoming book Odyssey of Jana about Jana Khodorovsky, a Ukrainian-Polish woman who saved Jews during the Holocaust; and Olexander Scherba, Ukrainian diplomat and author who worked as Ambassador of Ukraine to Austria in 2014–2021.

Moderator: Igor Shchupak, Director of "Tkuma" Ukrainian Institute of Holocaust Studies.

The event is supported by the US Embassy in Ukraine.