Results of the Connecting Memory in 2023
We have been cooperating with the Connecting Memory project for about three years. It aims to protect the mass graves of the Holocaust and the Roma genocide during World War II. The project also focused on the development of new tools for researching memory sites and studying the history of violence at the local level. The Connecting Memory supports local communities engaged in the management of Holocaust memorial sites and the restoration of the memory of former Jewish residents of their communities.
Sharing the results of cooperation in 2023 ↓
The Makariv community team created a documentary about the mutual assistance of the Ukrainian and Jewish people, based on analogies of the events of World War II and the Russian-Ukrainian War. The team also arranged a public space near the local museum for film screenings and collected artefacts from the history of Makariv’s Jewish community.
The Krasnopillia community team arranged Holocaust memorial sites in the Zhytomyr region, launched a documentary film club, and worked on the “Return of Names” project. Its goal is to promote the names of the murdered local Jews in the intellectual and public space of the community.
The community of the village of Lahodiv organised a study trip to the “In Unterwalden” museum for the youth. They held a commemorative event to mark the 80th anniversary of the Holocaust in the Lypovytsia tract and initiated a dialogue with local authorities about marking the site and the route of remembrance in the community.
Residents of the Huliaypillia community evacuated the museum collection from the destroyed school in the village of Omelnyk. Together, they recorded 2 episodes of a podcast about the cultural heritage of Huliaypillia during the war, created 14 interviews, evacuated 5 family archives from destroyed houses and a collection of paintings by artist Svyryd Hovina.
In the Zhytomyr region, the Yemilchyne community held remembrance lessons and excursions about the World War II on the community’s territory, and also maintained monuments and graves from the World War II.
The Rohatyn Jewish Heritage NGO maintained Jewish burial sites (Jewish cemeteries and mass shooting sites) and organised a screening of the documentary film “Wordless” about the Holocaust in Turka together with the NGO After Silence, DocudaysUA. They researched and published a study on the history of the Jewish ghetto in Rohatyn, a list of Holocaust victims in Rohatyn, and a geographical study of the Jewish residential neighbourhoods of Rohatyn in the mid-nineteenth century.
In the community of Ostrozhets, project participants prepared materials for the updated museum exhibition, found photos about the history of the village, renovated the museum premises, and made stands and lighting for the updated exhibition.
Residents of the Lypovets community prepared an exhibition of photographs by a local photographer who did not survive the Holocaust called “Friedman’s Photo Studio”, published a methodological guide entitled “Paths of Memory: Lessons from the History of the Holocaust” held commemorative events on the days of mass shootings in the Lypovets region, and conducted excursions to the school museum with a mobile exhibition entitled “Protecting Memory. Mass graves of the Holocaust in Ukraine”.
The community of Druzhkivka, a town in the northern Donetsk region, has prepared a book about the history of the Holocaust in the town for publication. Most of its own archives were taken to Kyiv, and one of the materials from the exported archives won a literary competition in Israel. Also, for the third year in a row, after the installation of a memorial plaque (2021), the town has been commemorating the Holocaust victims at the level of the head of the Military-Civilian Administration.
Residents of the village of Plyskiv became members of the DOCU/CLUB and held several events. They also visited the shooting site and the Holocaust museum in Lypivka, the Holocaust museum in Vinnytsia, and the shooting sites in the village of Samhorodka, and commemorated the victims of the Holocaust in Berdychiv.
The Zaturtseve community purchased a printer, furniture, books, and a generator to improve the library’s work. They organised a screening of the documentary Alice in Warland, held a requiem evening to commemorate Holocaust and Babyn Yar victims, and conducted excursions to memorial sites in Kysyliv.
In Kovel, the local community organised a two-day seminar-trip to Jewish memory sites along the Kovel-Zhovkva-Lviv route. Teachers from the Kovel VET Centre also conducted a thematic excursion to Zhovkva entitled “Ukrainians, Poles, Jews — How Did We Live Together?”, visited the “Territory of Terror” Memorial Museum, and conducted a tour of Jewish memory sites in Lviv.
In Peremyshliany, the members of the local initiative screened the film “Broken Branches” on International Holocaust Remembrance Day. They organised a commemorative exhibition, an international academic seminar with scholars from Ukraine and Poland, a masterclass on working with Holocaust history, and a screening of the film “Wordless” for local teachers. In August, the event “The Most Beautiful Flowers of My City” was held, which consisted of a children’s trip to explore the city and a vernissage of children’s works.
In the Holobska community, the participants opened a documentary film club, took photos of memorial sites, recorded interviews with witnesses of World War II, and arranged a public space at the site of the shooting of local Jews. They also updated the school museums exposition and conducted thematic lessons for students.
We will soon share the results of our work in other communities. The Connecting Memory project is implemented by Insha Osvita in cooperation with the Foundation Memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe in cooperation with the Ukrainian Center for Holocaust Studies with the support of the German Federal Foreign Office.
