One reason for this ambiguity is that Ukrainians lacked their own state and were under the control of a communist dictatorship. Having experienced the horrors of World War II, both the Ukrainian and Jewish populations faced latent Soviet antisemitism and Ukrainophobia in a system that did not foster tolerance or truth. The Soviet empire governed its subjugated peoples using colonial methods, imposing its culture and narrative on them. As a result, even within Jewish families in the post-World War II period, the topic of the Holocaust was often silenced. A paradoxical situation arose in which these subjects were officially taboo, yet Jewish and Ukrainian families continued to hold and share different and often forbidden memories.

After 1991, it finally became possible to discuss these topics openly. On the Jewish side, it was primarily Jewish communities that erected monuments to victims of the Holocaust and collected and published eyewitness accounts. The young Ukrainian state, emerging from the ruins of the Soviet empire, neither prohibited nor particularly supported these activities. Lacking a modern model of an inclusive culture of memory, it left these challenging topics – and the Holocaust in particular – to civil society actors, each addressing "their" own memories. Even in contemporary Ukraine, where there is a strong consensus that xenophobia is unacceptable, the state’s historical policy still struggles to incorporate the Jewish narrative into Ukrainian history. Since its inception, our Center has been advocating for the recognition of the history of Ukrainian Jewry and the Holocaust as integral parts of Ukrainian history.

This is a deep and complex question. After the Jews lost their statehood over two millennia ago, Jewish sages formulated a strategy for the community’s survival in the diaspora. It involved accepting the laws of the host state as one’s own. Being loyal to the country where you reside does not mean abandoning your Jewish identity. For Jews in Ukraine, it is crucial to recognize that a person can possess multiple identities simultaneously and that striving to become conscientious Ukrainian citizens and engage in the life of the country does not undermine their ethnic identity. On the other hand, Ukrainians must overcome their fear of their own history and be willing to openly acknowledge past mistakes. The well-known phrase ‘We forgive and ask for forgiveness’ could serve as a formula for reconciliation.

It goes without saying that such reconciliation cannot be easy, as demonstrated by the Ukrainian-Polish reconciliation process amid the debate over Ukrainian responsibility for the 1943 Volhynia massacre. Both of our peoples need to acknowledge their responsibilities for the past, recognize mutual faults, put them behind us, and move forward. This is essential for us to unite in repelling the enemy that has attacked us. The fact that many members of the Jewish community are currently fighting at the front against the russian invaders is evidence of the growing rapprochement between Ukrainians and Jews in Ukraine. Moreover, many of these individuals, such as Professor Maksym Hon, are doing so voluntarily. The shared fate of Ukrainians and Jews, along with the similarity in the values they uphold, has become even more apparent against the backdrop of the current struggles faced by both Ukrainians and Israelis in their fight for existence and the preservation of their states.

Yes, it is indeed relevant. This is not just my personal opinion; it is also, for example, the view shared by the majority of participants at a seminar on teaching Holocaust history in Ukrainian universities, which took place at Chernivtsi National University from October 4-6. The event brought together representatives from 16 Ukrainian universities that specialize in teaching twentieth-century history, the history of World War II, Jewish history, and related subjects. The current war against Ukraine, which has already profoundly affected the psychological state of a war-traumatized society and will continue to shape it, has become the central focus of reflection for the Ukrainian intellectual elite. This war has the potential to generate an effect similar to what occurred in the mid-twentieth century, when the horrors of World War II overshadowed the memory of victims of World War I. It is essential to start preparing for this now, striving to find an appropriate place for the crime and tragedy of the Holocaust within the evolving structure of Ukrainians’ collective memory, which is being reshaped by current events. Continuing to research and discuss the Holocaust in the context of the ongoing war is equally important, as the truth about the past – no matter how challenging – serves as a powerful weapon in the struggle against an enemy that seeks to destroy our culture, erase our memory, and impose its own interpretation of history upon us.

Part of the answer to this question lies in the e-guide How to Teach Holocaust History after February 24, 2022, developed by our Center in the summer of 2022. The guide incorporates the new experiences and reflections of our target groups on the current reality. While the new approaches are debatable, one fact remains indisputable: research and teaching on Holocaust-related topics will have unique specificity in postwar Ukraine, setting it apart from other countries where this subject remains a prominent part of university curricula and is supported by a large number of publications. This was one of the key topics discussed at the seminar I mentioned held at Chernivtsi National University. I am confident that, under any circumstances, the Ukrainian intellectual elite will find a way to address this challenge. At the level of paradigms and methodology, the context in which the phenomena being compared are situated will inevitably shift. Whereas previously, the distinctive features of the Holocaust as an unprecedented historical crime were established by comparing the Shoah with past tragedies, in the Ukrainian context, the Holocaust is likely to become the 'benchmark' crime against humanity against which the atrocities committed by the Putin regime and its army in Ukraine today will be measured.

This issue is indeed highly relevant to us. The civilized world has accumulated extensive experience in commemorating the Holocaust over the years. The range of commemorative practices is quite broad, encompassing museums such as those in Washington, Jerusalem, and Amsterdam, as well as memorials like the Berlin complex dedicated to the murdered Jews of Europe. We must also remember the importance of documentary and research centers, databases, and other forms of memory preservation. In fact, Ukraine has long drawn on the global experience of Holocaust commemoration to honor the memory of, for instance, the victims of the Holodomor of 1932-1933. This experience is now being used again: a survey of residents in the Kyiv region who survived the russian occupation in 2022 was conducted using methods developed through numerous interviews with witnesses to the Shoah. Additionally, two important areas where the experience of Holocaust commemoration can be applied include the organized collection of materials about modern war events, including its heroes and civilian casualties, and the use of contemporary multimedia technologies for its commemoration.

Properly organized collection of materials about the modern war events, including its heroes, and civilian casualties, and the use of modern multimedia technologies for its commemoration are two other important areas where the experience of Holocaust commemoration can be used.