About MHZ
Europe and Ukraine in the 20th Century - Soviet Rule, German Occupation and Conflictual Memories

Europe and Ukraine in the 20th Century - Soviet Rule, German Occupation and Conflictual Memories
The Mykola Haievoi Center for Modern History is a joint research center of the LMU Munich and the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv under the direction of Prof. Dr. Martin Schulze Wessel and Prof. Dr. Yaroslav Hrytsak. The subject of the research is the rule of the two major criminal regimes of 20th century European history, National Socialist Germany and the Soviet Union under Stalin, using Ukraine as an example, as well as the controversial and entangled memory of their mass crimes.
© LMU
The center is characterized by a transnational approach and multi-perspectivity with regard to different victim groups and systematically links the history of mass violence with its memory in the 20th and 21st centuries. The aim is to create a sustainable link between the research centers in Lviv and Munich and their respective networks in order to productively combine parallel and complementary competencies.
The Center's activities are based on four years of funding from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) for the research project “Europe and Ukraine in the 20th Century - Soviet Rule, German Occupation and Conflicting Memories”. During this time, the Mykola Haievoi Center is to be further developed and established as a joint institution of Ludwig Maximilian University and the Ukrainian Catholic University. The center is named after an UCU PhD student who was to work at the center and was killed in the war against the Russian invasion at the end of August 2024, just weeks before it opened.
© UCU Press Service
The research is organized into three thematic axes. The first thematic axis deals with Soviet rule during the Stalin era and the German occupation of Ukraine during the Second World War. German and Soviet rule are examined comparatively and in relation to each other using the example of Ukraine. The second thematic axis deals with German-Ukrainian relations with a focus on the period of the Second World War. The third thematic axis focuses on the history of the memory of the two major criminal regimes of the first half of the 20th century, National Socialist Germany and the Soviet Union under Stalin, during the Cold War and afterwards, using the example of discourses on their rule in Ukraine.
Prof. Martin Schulze Wessel, head of the center in Munich
“Ukraine has suffered more from the mass crimes of the two totalitarian regimes of 20th-century European history, the Stalinist Soviet Union and National Socialist Germany, than other parts of Europe. At the same time, Ukrainians made a significant contribution to the military victory over National Socialism and also to the peaceful overcoming of Soviet rule. The research of the Mykola Haievoi Center is concerned with critically and objectively investigating the history of violence in the 20th century in context. The center is also intended to contribute to strengthening Ukrainian perspectives on the European history of the 20th century.”
Prof. Yaroslav Hrytsak, head of the center in Lviv
“At UCU, we have established connections with a group of German researchers who focus on 20th-century Ukrainian history, particularly the study of the Nazi and Soviet regimes in Ukraine. Therefore, we decided to launch a project together that will focus on war and violence in Ukraine. Unfortunately, this theme is repeating itself in a very tragic and horrific way now—during Russia’s war against Ukraine. This issue did not arise today. It has historical roots. Hence, it makes deep sense to study the history of 20th-century Ukraine and Europe in order to better understand this war through the lens of previous wars and to determine potential scenarios for resolving this situation.”