Presentation of the book ‘Darkness over Kyiv: The City on the Eve of and During the Holodomor’

On 20 November, the Holodomor Museum will host a presentation of a study on life in Kyiv on the eve of and during the Holodomor, entitled ‘Darkness over Kyiv’.

Speakers:

Ivan PETRENKO, author of the publication, PhD, research fellow at the Genocide, Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Research Department;

Kyrylo STEPANETS, local historian, urban landscape researcher, blogger and author of a series of programmes and numerous books about Kyiv.

In this publication, the author draws on a wide range of archival documents and eyewitness accounts to examine key aspects of life in Kyiv during the late 1920s and early 1930s, when Stalin’s communist regime implemented horrific social and economic reforms and committed genocide against the Ukrainian people. The essay focuses on the problems of the city’s administrative and territorial structure at that time, the epidemic situation, everyday life, and food supply for residents. It provides a detailed analysis of the survival of Ukrainian peasants and homeless children in Kyiv, who sought refuge from starvation on its streets.

The book is rich in documentary evidence, comprehensively brief information notes and eyewitness accounts, which make it lively and engaging. Thanks to the fruitful cooperation between the Holodomor Museum and the Central State Audiovisual and Electronic Archive, the publication is illustrated with a significant array of archival photographs (over 100 photos), most of which are little known.

The publication targets historians, local historians, lecturers, teachers, students, and anyone interested in the history of Kyiv, particularly the Holodomor of 1932–1933.

Date: Thursday, 20 November 2025, at 6 p.m.

Location: Hall of Memory, Holodomor Museum (3 Lavrska Street).

Free admission with prior registration!

You can register here: https://forms.gle/nj8fB7HLRZraXF9f9.