History, Memory, and the Present: Day Two of the “Koreni ta Kryla: History That Unites” Program

The second day of the module began at the National Museum-Memorial “Prison on Lontskoho Street” — a space where discussions of historical memory, totalitarian regimes, and human choice take on particular significance.

A Conversation on Integrity and Responsibility in History

Historian, researcher, and essayist Olesia Isaiuk led a discussion titled “Ukrainians in the Service of the Empire: Virtuous Renegades or Victims of Systemic Genocide?” At the center of the conversation was the complex question of how to assess the choices and responsibility of people who, in different historical periods, found themselves serving imperial systems.

Olesia Isaiuk invited participants to look beyond a simplified division between those who served the empire and its victims. Cossack officers, settlers relocated to Kuban and other territories of the Russian Empire, peasants, national communists, Soviet functionaries, and so-called “outsiders sent in” all had different degrees of freedom, agency, and ability to influence their own circumstances. That is why, the researcher stressed, each of these historical experiences requires separate analysis.

One of the key questions of the conversation was the concept of moral agency. Can a person’s choice be considered fully free when made under conditions of violence, repression, social pressure, or the threat of losing property, freedom, or social status? To understand the behavior of Ukrainians within imperial systems, the researcher noted, it is important to analyze not only specific actions but also the circumstances under which decisions were made.

Olesia Isaiuk paid particular attention to the consequences of prolonged imperial violence for Ukrainian society. The discussion touched on the experience of defeats, repression, Russification, and assimilation, as well as on how the realization that resisting violence is impossible can affect the behavior of individuals and society.

The conversation went beyond an analysis of the past. Participants discussed the psychological consequences of imperial and totalitarian experience, the mechanisms of adapting to a violent system, and how historical trauma can affect society for decades.

At the same time, Olesia Isaiuk highlighted the significance of Ukrainian resistance following the start of the full-scale Russian invasion. In her words, 2022 became an important moment when Ukrainians gained the experience not only of resistance, but of the possibility of successfully standing up to the aggressor.

The talk sparked an active discussion among the Summer School participants. Teachers spoke about how to explain complex historical processes to students, how to address questions of responsibility and choice, and how important it is to take historical context into account when assessing the decisions of people in the past.

A Meeting with Volodymyr Viatrovych: Historical Memory and State Policy

One of the central events of the second day was a meeting with Volodymyr Viatrovych, PhD in History, Member of the Ukrainian Parliament — a historian, researcher of the Ukrainian liberation movement, and one of the figures involved in shaping state policy on national memory in Ukraine. The conversation was moderated by Natalia Omelchuk, coordinator of educational programs at the Pylyp Orlyk Foundation, who proposed discussing historical memory, the teaching of history, overcoming Soviet narratives, and the role of education in shaping civic identity.

The conversation quickly moved beyond the traditional lecture format and turned into a lively, engaged dialogue. Teachers actively joined the discussion, asked questions, and discussed problems they encounter in their daily work.

Volodymyr Viatrovych spoke about the history of the founding of the National Museum-Memorial “Prison on Lontskoho Street,” the struggle to open the archives of the Soviet security services, and the gradual formation of state policy on national memory.

Considerable attention during the meeting was devoted to how Ukraine has gradually broken free from Soviet historical narratives — from reassessing World War II and rejecting the concept of the “Great Patriotic War” to opening the KGB archives, decommunization, and forming its own memory policy.

Speaking about the changes that have taken place in Ukrainian society over the decades of independence, Volodymyr Viatrovych stressed: “We sometimes forget how far we have come, how different we really used to be.”

A separate topic was the role of the Revolution of Dignity in these processes. Volodymyr Viatrovych called the Euromaidan “the last anti-Soviet uprising in Ukrainian history,” explaining that Ukrainians rose up against an attempt to drag the country back into the Soviet past.

The discussion also touched on today’s culture of memory, the formation of a national pantheon, and the role of state policy in dealing with the past.

“It’s a very good thing that we’re now debating what our national memory should be, rather than whether it should exist at all,” Volodymyr Viatrovych noted.

An important part of the meeting was a conversation about Ukrainian-Polish relations and the complex, contested pages of shared history. Participants discussed, among other things, how historical narratives affect contemporary political processes and why Ukraine must continue to research and present its own history in the international academic and public sphere.

On Teaching History in Schools

Participants were especially active in discussing the teaching of history in schools. The conversation covered school curricula, textbooks, the place of Ukrainian history in a global context, and the role of history education in shaping civic identity.

Speaking about the importance of history education, Volodymyr Viatrovych stressed that Ukrainian schools have come a long way over the years of independence. In his words, if history textbooks helped raise a generation of people who see themselves as citizens of Ukraine and are today defending their state, that means history education has fulfilled an important part of its mission. At the same time, this work must continue.

The discussion of the teacher’s own role was no less important. Volodymyr Viatrovych pointed out that the school curriculum sets only the general framework, while the role of the teacher — and how they work with historical material — remains extremely important.

The large number of questions and the engagement of the participants demonstrated how important direct dialogue with researchers and people working on questions of historical memory at the academic and state levels is for today’s teachers.

Guided Tour and Practical Work

The day’s program continued with a guided tour of the National Museum-Memorial “Prison on Lontskoho Street.” Being present directly in this space of memory allowed participants to continue the conversation about repression and the crimes of totalitarian regimes through work with specific stories, documents, and testimonies.

After returning to the Lviv Culture Hub — the event’s organizational partner — participants, together with Natalia Omelchuk, coordinator of educational programs at the Pylyp Orlyk Foundation, continued practical work during a session titled “Freedom and Responsibility.”

The second day of the module concluded with a joint circle of questions and answers, during which the teachers discussed what they had seen and heard, and shared their own thoughts and experiences.

The second day of the module became a space for difficult questions, open discussions, and conversations about how to work with historical memory and how to talk to the younger generation about freedom, responsibility, and human choice. Olesia Isaiuk’s talk and the conversation with Volodymyr Viatrovych showed how important it is, when working with the past, to take historical context into account, critically analyze established narratives, and continue the public discussion on Ukrainian history and the culture of memory. As we previously reported, the second module of the Summer School is taking place in Lviv on July 10–12.

Photo – Vitaliy Grabar