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On February 2–3, 2026, an All-Ukrainian scientific and practical seminar dedicated to the International Holocaust Remembrance Day was held in Vinnytsia. The educational project was organized on the initiative of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and the “Tkuma” Ukrainian Institute for Holocaust Studies with the support of the Claims Conference.

The seminar brought together 35 participants from 12 regions of Ukraine – history teachers, scientists, public figures and artists. Traditionally, significant assistance in organizing the event was provided by partners in Vinnytsia: employees of the Vinnytsia Academy of Continuing Education, Deputy Director for Scientific and Methodological Work of the State Archives of Vinnytsia Region Dr. Faina Vynokurova, local teachers, as well as the head of the Jewish religious community of Vinnytsia Isaak Novoseletsky.

The seminar program was opened by Dr. Igor Shchupak, who has been researching the Holocaust in the context of other genocides for many years. During the lecture-discussion, the participants discussed what the experience of the Holocaust, the modern Russian-Ukrainian war, and other genocides of the 20th–21st centuries teach us, as well as what is the unique “face” of the Holocaust.

Dr. Yehor Vradii suggested turning to a little-known page of Ukrainian historiography – a dissertation by Ukrainian historian Trokhym Halep, written in the first post-war five-year period. This is one of the first scientific works dedicated to the Nazi occupation and mass murder of the Jewish population in Ukraine in 1941–1944. The participants analyzed what exactly was missing in the then research in view of modern approaches to studying the genocide of European Jewry – in particular, the personalization of history, names and individual destinies.

The Holocaust through the eyes of young students was discussed together with Pavlo Kravchenko, professor of the Department of World History and International Relations at the Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi Vinnytsia State Pedagogical University. He shared modern practices of teaching the history of the Holocaust and his experience of working with students.

Of particular interest was the workshop “How to work in the archive in search of sources on the history of the Holocaust: little-known documents and new interpretations”, conducted by Dr. Faina Vinokurova. Participants received step-by-step recommendations on working in the archive, searching for documents and interacting with archival institutions. Practical advice inspired teachers to create their own research and search projects on local history.

The emotional highlight of the seminar was the screening of the film “Echoes”, dedicated to the Holocaust in Vinnytsia, and a meeting with the director Valeriy Shalyga. The focus of the discussion was not only the tragedy of destruction, but also the stories of resistance and rescue, the fate of ordinary people who preserved their humanity in inhuman conditions.

The language workshop of Oleksandr Cherkas, a serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and a teacher at the Ivan Bohun Kyiv Military Lyceum, focused on how to speak and write about the history of the Holocaust correctly without mistakes, simplifications, and stereotypes. Tetyana Chernenko, a long-time partner of “Tkuma” Institute, presented the study “The Righteous of Chernihiv Region. People Who “Preserved the Honor of the Nation”,” emphasizing the importance of continuing the research work and disseminating its results among students, teachers, and communities.

The seminar concluded with the presentation of a new collection of selected creative works by teachers, “Lessons of the Holocaust: Courage, Memory, Compassion,” published by the Tkuma Institute. The co-authors of the publication, Alina Denysova, Iryna Matkovska, Yulia Nuzha, Daria Olkhovetska, Inna Poplavska, and Oleksandr Cherkas, joined the discussion. The collection presents detailed plans and summaries of binary lessons in history, civics, law, and Ukrainian literature for grades 6–8 and 10–11, educational and methodological developments, didactic materials, interactive classes, and extracurricular activities.

The seminar in Vinnytsia once again confirmed the importance of systematic work with teachers, scientists, and communities to preserve historical memory, develop critical thinking, and form a responsible attitude towards the past and present.

The seminar was made possible thanks to the assistance and financial support of the Claims Conference

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