Ihor Dvorkin

The events of 2014, called Euromaidan, strongly affected the humanitarian sphere in Ukraine. Textbooks and educational programs on the history of Ukraine in many aspects reflect the changes that have taken place in the perception of historical events after the Euromaidan. This project aims to analyze the parts of school and university textbooks devoted to the Second World War, from two generations (before and after 2014). The main goals of the project are: to analyze the dynamics of the state policy of memory and its reflection in modern textbooks on history; to understand the techniques used by historians for the interpretation of historical events; to follow the main changes in the terminology, chronology and illustrations used in textbooks before and after Euromaidan, revealing which topics are given more attention, and what are in the shadows; to identify proclivities in the presentation of the most discussed topics. Perhaps the greatest changes have taken place in the interpretation of the events of World War II. Among the main topics related to the war: the Soviet-Nazi non-aggression pact of 1939; inclusion of part of the Ukrainian lands in the USSR in 1939 - 1940; Soviet-Nazi military confrontation on the territory of Ukraine; occupation regime; resistance movement, etc.

In the latest textbooks, this pattern has barely changed but new aspects of “old” problems and new topics, which were previously ignored or left without evaluative judgments, have been added. The issues that have undergone the greatest changes in emphasis and interpretations will be focused on.

The current war in Ukraine may provide new perspectives for Dvorkin’s research in the light of the situation and his own experience. The processes of evacuation, forced migration, city life during active hostilities etc. can be compared with the events of World War II and the Holocaust now and in the next generations of textbooks.