Divided or Diversified? Further Thoughts on Social Memory in Ukraine (in the Context of Identity)

The aim of this text is to present the internal differentiation of Ukrainian social memory. The author concentrates on vernacular memory of three issues that are essential in regard to Ukrainian identity: the Second World War and the conflict between the Ukrainian Insurgent Army and the Soviet authorities, Holodomor, and the Holocaust. Her analysis is based on her own research conducted in Galicia and Central Ukraine, searches in oral history sources, and also on the published and unpublished results of qualitative research by other researchers and public opinion surveys. Her main conclusions involve the unconsonant nature of different memories with differentiations of regional populations, the unifying nature of memory of the Holodomor, the strongly polarizing memory of the UIA as a potential factor of social conflict, and the problematic nature of memory of the Holocaust