(Not) Far from the War: The Russo-Ukrainian War in Refugees’ Testimonies, Oral Histories, and Diaries

Вроцлав, 26-27 серпня 2024 року

Кінцевий термін подачі тез на участь: 1 травня 2024 р.

The workshop is organized within the framework of the activities of the Witnessing the War in Ukraine Summer Institute "Testimony in the Pursuit of Justice" as a pre-Institute event.

The workshop is led by Professor Felix Ackermann (Hagen, Germany), Professor Gelinada Grinchenko (Wuppertal, Germany), Professor Natalia Khanenko-Friesen (Edmonton, Canada), and Professor Eleonora Narvselius (Lund, Sweden).

Workshop venue: Centrum Historii Zajezdnia, ul. Grabiszyńska 184, 53-235 Wrocław

Format: Participation in Presence

Languages: English

The German-Ukrainian Historical Commission is supported by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) with funds from the Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany.

For organizational questions please contact:

duhk@lrz.uni-muenchen.de / +49 89 2180-3056 / www.duhk.org

Since the start of the full-scale war of Russia against Ukraine, more than 6 million residents of Ukraine have left for Europe. The largest number of them —over a million Ukrainian citizens —found temporary protection in Germany, settling in all federal states. Each of them brought their pain, their history, and their own experience of the war.

During their two-year stay in Germany, many Ukrainians shared their stories, recorded within the framework of various research projects and initiatives. The significance of these projects is extremely high, as they introduce the world to the truth of eyewitnesses, preserve the memory of the war, and lay the documentary foundations for post-war justice and fairness.

Our workshop aims to discuss completed and ongoing projects documenting testimonies of the Russo-Ukrainian war conducted in Germany and other countries. Lectures, seminars and discussions will facilitate the discussion of experiences and sharing of ideas with respect to the specific projects focused on interviewing Ukrainians who fled the country due to the ongoing war. Topics for discussion will include:

• Whom are we talking to: Ukrainian refugees in Germany and other countries as the target group in projects documenting the Russo-Ukrainian war;

• What are we talking about: Thematic priorities and central issues of initiatives documenting testimonies about the war in Ukraine;

• How are we talking: Ethics of organizing and conducting projects collecting histories of Ukrainians who ended up outside Ukraine due to the war;

• Future uses of testimonies: Working towards the ‘national memory of the war’ and post-war justice and fairness;

• Retrospective (re)evaluation: Comparing testimonies of wars and conflicts across 20th and 21st centuries.

Overall, the workshop can support up to 10 researchers. While we mainly aim to initiate German-Ukrainian dialogue about these issues, contributions from other countries are very welcome as well. The language of the workshop is English. The German-Ukrainian Historical Commission bears the costs for accommodation and meals and will refund the travel expenses.

This year, the workshop will take place within the framework of the Witnessing the War in Ukrainian Summer Institute "Testimony in the Pursuit of Justice" as a pre-Institute event. Workshop participants will have the opportunity to attend the opening of the Institute and key-note lecture on August 27 free of charge. Participation in the work of the Institute from August 28-31 implies covering the costs of accommodation at one's own expense.

Please send us your application in English with CV, a short motivational letter and an abstract of your research project (max. 500 words) in one PDF-file by May 1, 2024 to following address: duhk@lrz.uni-muenchen.de.