Wars over Memory
Remembrance Policy in Post-Soviet Kharkiv
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
East Ukrainian Kharkiv was at the start of 2014 the scene of fierce clashes between pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian groupings. Political polarisation makes the city a preferred target for Russia’s hybrid war. A look at the back-ground to the tensions shows how important historical memory remains for the city’s present-day self-image. Many conflicts in Kharkiv revolve around competing views of history. They can be politically instrumentalised. Despite the local quality of the “wars over memory”, the situation also reflects the tense relationship between the periphery and the centre. In wars over memory, there are no winners. The decisive factor is not who maintains the upper hand over local or national historical memory, but how the country finds its way out polarisation and back to dialogue.
(Osteuropa 4/2015, pp. 153–171)