Jewish Pogrom Essay
In this essay, I would like to discuss the historical background of the Jewish pogrom in Lviv in 1941 as well as its current place in cultural memory in Eastern Europe. I am interested in this topic because I was doing my PhD in cultural memory of the Second World War in Eastern Europe; furthermore, I believe that by understanding reasons of past instances of mass violence and the way these are commemorated today we can prevent future genocides.
On 30 June 1941 first German troops entered Lviv, the largest city of Western Ukraine, where more than 150,000 Jews (Mick, 2011) lived before the beginning of the German-Soviet war. Among these troops was the Nachtigall battalion, a Ukrainian unit of the German military counterintelligence, which was established as a result of cooperation …show more content…
The Soviet historiography either omitted the subject of the Holocaust or universalized it by replacing Jewish victims with abstract Soviet citizens (Asher, 2003: 888-889). The Lviv pogrom, however, did not fit the official Soviet narrative of heroism and martyrdom of Soviet people for two major reasons. Firstly, the subject of ethnic violence was largely ignored by the Soviet historiography of the Second World War, especially, when it involved “brotherly” Soviet nations, like Ukrainians, which unanimously — except a small group of collaborators – fought against fascism. Secondly, even while evidences of NKVD crimes produced by German were quickly labeled by the Soviet Union as the war-time propaganda, the complex investigation of the Lviv pogrom could bring unpleasant revelations of Soviet crimes, which would barely suit the Great Patriotic War
On 30 June 1941 first German troops entered Lviv, the largest city of Western Ukraine, where more than 150,000 Jews (Mick, 2011) lived before the beginning of the German-Soviet war. Among these troops was the Nachtigall battalion, a Ukrainian unit of the German military counterintelligence, which was established as a result of cooperation …show more content…
The Soviet historiography either omitted the subject of the Holocaust or universalized it by replacing Jewish victims with abstract Soviet citizens (Asher, 2003: 888-889). The Lviv pogrom, however, did not fit the official Soviet narrative of heroism and martyrdom of Soviet people for two major reasons. Firstly, the subject of ethnic violence was largely ignored by the Soviet historiography of the Second World War, especially, when it involved “brotherly” Soviet nations, like Ukrainians, which unanimously — except a small group of collaborators – fought against fascism. Secondly, even while evidences of NKVD crimes produced by German were quickly labeled by the Soviet Union as the war-time propaganda, the complex investigation of the Lviv pogrom could bring unpleasant revelations of Soviet crimes, which would barely suit the Great Patriotic War