Babyn Yar of SERHIІ LOZNYTSIA. UKRAINIAN CONTEXT

Abstract

The premiere of “Babyn Yar. Context” took place in Ukraine as part of the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the Babyn Yar tragedy. After the theatrical release, the film was shown on one of the central TV channels, reaching an audience of 5 million viewers. Some Ukrainian intellectuals called the film tendentious, presenting the history of Babyn Yar in a one-sided way, and aiming to discredit Ukrainians by showing them as anti-Semites and collaborators. In the discussion following the broadcast with Ukrainian scholars, philosopher Vakhtang Kebuladze stated that the film reproduced the Soviet narrative about the outbreak of war in 1941, and endowed Ukraine with political subjectivity that it did not actually have during the period covered.

“Babyn Yar. Context” has become an element of the national discussion about how Holocaust victims are commemorated in Ukraine and the role and place of the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center in this process. He re-actualized the fears of some Ukrainian intellectuals about Russia’s possible instrumentalization of the Holocaust as an element of hybrid warfare, its intention to foment a war of memories and undermine the historical and moral foundations of an independent Ukrainian state. Loznytsia’s authorial statement in “Babyn Yar. Context” was perceived by a part of the Ukrainian humanitarian community as one promoting Soviet and Russian historical narratives.