Conference: Mass violence and genocides in the Ukrainian lands in the 1930s-1940s

1-2 December 2016
Kharkiv, Ukraine

An international scholarly conference organized by the Center for Interethnic Relations Research of Eastern Europe in Kharkiv and the Faculty of History of Vasyl Karazin Kharkiv National University.

This event is supported by the Ukrainian Jewish Encounter (UJE).

The problem of mass violence in the Ukrainian lands in the 1930s and 1940s is a subject of research on the Second World War, the Holocaust, the Holodomor, the deportation of Crimean ethnic groups (Tatars, Greeks, Bulgarians) in 1944, totalitarianism, post traumatic memory, etc. These studies mainly have different trajectories and separate audiences, and researchers often do not venture beyond their own issues. We are looking for opportunities to combine various perspectives on these topics.

Our aim is to organize a platform for an interdisciplinary discussion on the theoretical, contextual, and ethical principles of research on the problems of mass violence.

We seek contributions in particular on the following topics:

● the ideological background to mass violence

● the Holodomor of 1932-33

● interwar Soviet Ukraine: a society of everyday violence and repression

● the genocides during the Nazi occupation: the Holocaust and the Porajmos

● the sovietization of Western Ukraine

● the people in between: refugees, military and civilian prisoners, the deportation of populations

● the problem of ethnic cleansing

● trauma and memory

Submissions on other topics relevant to the theme of the conference will also be welcomed.

Invited experts and guests include:

Frank Grelka (European University Viadrina, Frankfurt (Oder)) Michael Ellman (University of Amsterdam)

Witold Medykowski (Yad Vashem, Jerusalem)

Dieter Pohl (Alpen-Adria-University, Klagenfurt)

Irina Reva (Institute of Social Studies, Dnipro)

Irina Starovoit (Ivan Franko National University of Lviv)

Gulnara Bekirova (Association of Crimean historians)

The organizers invite proposals for 20-minute papers by doctoral students and young scholars. Abstracts should be no more than 300 words and be submitted with a short CV (no more than 3 pages) by 5 September 2016 to the email address listed below.

Limited budget support might be available for travel expenses and accommodation, but participants will be encouraged to cover travel costs with their own funds.

For further enquiries please contact:
Artem Kharchenko: [email protected]
URL: https://ethnickh.wordpress.com