The Day of Partisan Glory: the Ukrainian Adaptation of the “Great Patriotic War” Legacy to the Russo-Ukrainian War
The Day of Partisan Glory: the Ukrainian Adaptation of the “Great Patriotic War” Legacy to the Russo-Ukrainian War

Summary/Abstract: This paper describes how elements of the commemoration of World War II and the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war have become intertwined and reshaped in contemporary Ukraine. The author focuses on one illustrative case – the celebration of the national Day of Partisan Glory, September 22. Introduced in 2001 to honour members of the Soviet resistance during WWII, the day of commemoration has been losing its original meaning following Ukraine’s shift away from a Soviet-aligned model of war remembrance. The ceremony of official commemoration is, however, being kept alive through the efforts of local government officials and state agencies today, albeit with new elements, explanations and elaborations of events and their meanings. This shift in meaning is, I argue, grounded in the Ukrainian resistance that emerged in the territories illegally occupied by Russia in 2022, which became the ground for a spontaneous and profound rethinking of the connotative possibilities of the commemorative date. Through a detailed analysis of commemorative publications and reports on events held in 2022–2023 by grassroots actors (educational and cultural institutions, local communities) this article shows that September 22 is already being commemorated in a manner distinct from its World War II context, as a day of remembrance for today’s Ukrainian partisans. Thus, the case of the Day of Partisan Glory is an excellent illustration of the of the techniques and contexts that can reinvent traditions and commemorations more quickly than one may at first glance actually realise.

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