Cooperation event of the department of East and Southeast European History at LMU, the Mykola Haievoi Center for Modern History, the German-Ukrainian Historical Commission and the Institut für Zeitgeschichte
Thursday, April 24, 2025, 6 p.m., Room M110, Main Building of the LMU Munich
Panel discussion with:
- Prof. Dr. Gelinada Grinchenko
- Prof. Dr. Katja Makhotina
- Prof. Dr. Andreas Wirsching
- Moderation: Prof. Dr. Martin Schulze Wessel
May 8, 2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. For the third time, this anniversary falls at the time of a new major war in Europe, the Russian war against Ukraine.
In Russia, the memory of the “Great Patriotic War” and the victory of 1945 serves to legitimize the war against Ukraine. In Germany and other countries, on the other hand, the central conclusion from the experience of the world war was that there should “never be war again” in Europe. In Germany, the attitude towards Russia was also determined for a long time by the feeling of a special obligation towards Russia due to German crimes during the Second World War, whereby German crimes in Ukraine were often ignored. This may also have contributed to the fact that the consequences of Russia's increasingly aggressive policy were drawn only hesitantly.
In Ukraine, the aggressive instrumentalization of the memory of the “Great Patriotic War” by Russia since 2014 at the latest has led to the Soviet-influenced memory losing its influence. For Ukraine, however, this also raises the question of how this period, which is also one of the fundamental historical experiences of the 20th century for Ukraine, can be remembered.
The discussion will focus on the history of the memory of the German-Soviet War of 1941-45 and the questions that Russia's war against Ukraine poses for this memory.
- Participants:
- Gelinada Grinchenko is a senior researcher at the Mykola Haievoi Center for Modern History at LMU and a professor in the Department of World History at Oles-Honchar University in Dnipro. She is co-chair of the German-Ukrainian Historical Commission.
- Katja Makhotina is Professor of Eastern European History at the Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg.
- Andreas Wirsching is Director of the Institut für Zeitgeschichte (IfZ) and Professor of Modern History at LMU.
- Martin Schulze Wessel is Professor of East and Southeast European History at LMU and Co-Director of the Mykola Haievoi Center for Modern History.