Memory of the Second World War in Contemporary Ukraine
Memory of the Second World War in Contemporary Ukraine

Summary/Abstract: This paper examines the evolution of the politics of memory and the culture of commemoration of the Second World War in contemporary Ukraine. Following Ukraine’s independence in 1991, a modified Soviet paradigm of the “Great Patriotic War” persisted at the state level, supplemented by Ukrainian narratives. After the Revolution of Dignity and the beginning of Russian hybrid aggression in 2014, this (Post)Soviet model was definitively abandoned, leading to a radical change in the perception of the Second World War. Ukraine’s perspective increasingly aligned with the European model of commemorating the victims of the war – in contrast to the Soviet and contemporary Russian models, which emphasize heroization and instrumentalization of the war. This process of rethinking the war unfolded simultaneously with a decommunization process. The full-scale Russian invasion in 2022 further deepened the process of rethinking Ukrainian history, including the history of the Second World War. This is happening at a time when Ukrainians are once again experiencing the tragedy of war. The paper examines general trends in the state’s attitude towards the Second World War, Ukrainian legislation and its implementation, and key “sites of memory” dedicated to the war. Methodologically, the study draws on modernist theories of the nation, memory studies, and postcolonial studies.

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