The Holocaust in the Public Discourse of Post-Soviet Ukraine

Abstract

The subjects of the Holocaust and the fate of the Jews during World War II in many respects remain on the margins of public discourse in Ukraine where one can observe a competition between two co-existing but rather inflexible narratives: the (post-)Soviet narrative, on the one hand, and the nationalistic narrative, on the other. Diametrically opposed in other respects, they are united on one point: both of them marginalize the memory of the Holocaust and the tragic fate of the Jewish population in Ukraine. This chapter examines the Ukrainian discourse on the Holocaust, tracing connections to the country’s Soviet past and its present geopolitical position between the European Union and Russia. It pays particular attention to the role played by Jewish international organizations on this issue, and to the views of Jewish Ukrainian intellectuals on the Ukrainian–Jewish dialogue.