Head of the Genocide Research Department participated in a roundtable discussion on digitising archives

On 21 August, the National University of Civil Protection of Ukraine in Cherkasy hosted a roundtable discussion entitled “Digitalisation of documents from the Sectoral State Archives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs: revealing the truth about the crimes of the communist totalitarian regime,” organised by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine.

Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Ihor Klymenko, State Secretary Inna Yashchuk, representatives of archival institutions, scholars, educators, local historians, and public figures participated in the event.

Mykhailo Kostiv, head of Genocide, Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Research Department, presented the National Museum of the Holodomor Genocide.

“It is crucial for the entire population to have an accurate memory. The main thing is that we must respect our history. We are to remember and supplement it. And we can supplement it only by preserving archives and keeping that memory alive, because there are almost no people left who survived that fire,” Ihor Klymenko, Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, emphasised.

Inna Yashchuk, State Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, noted that Ukraine was once again experiencing Russian terror, just as it had done during Stalin’s repressions. She emphasised that the Kremlin’s crimes were hereditary and stressed the importance of publishing archives that reveal the true intentions of the Russian authorities.

Mykhailo Kostiv thanked the Ministry of Internal Affairs for its cooperation in digitising and providing access to materials about the Holodomor stored in the Ministry’s archives. He also spoke about other projects currently being implemented by the Holodomor Museum to make historical materials accessible to the public and expand the museum’s audience through modern technology.

A collection of documents and materials entitled “The Holodomor of 1932–1933: Genocide of the Ukrainian People” was presented at the roundtable, a copy of which the library of the Holodomor Museum received. This publication is relevant for researchers, educators, students, and anyone interested in Ukrainian history.