Hostname: page-component-84b7d79bbc-tsvsl Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-31T06:25:50.373Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

“Bykivnia is Extremely Important in the Search for Our Identity”: A Martyrological Landscape of Remembrance and the Problems with the Victimhood Narrative

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 August 2023

Valentyna Kharkhun Open the ORCID record for Valentyna Kharkhun [Opens in a new window]
Valentyna Kharkhun*
Affiliation:
Nizhyn Mykola Gogol State University, Ukraine
*
Email: vkharkhun@gmail.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In 1989, after few decades of Soviet disinformation, a fourth investigation by the state commission finally recognized Bykivnia, located on the outskirt of Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, as being a burial place for victims of the Soviet regime. Later in 1994, the Historical and Cultural Reserve “Bykivnians’ky Graves” was launched at the site, marking the initial point of the state remembrance of victims of Soviet political repressions and consequently indicating the importance of the victimhood narrative when portraying the Soviet past. This article examines the historical recognition of Bykivnia and the development of a martyrological landscape on the site in context with the establishment of state legislative actions and commemorative policies regarding victims of Soviet political repressions. The case study of Bykivnia should provide a basic understanding of domestic and international contradictions when creating a victimhood narrative and will question approaches taken for adapting this narrative in building a national identity.

Keywords

BykivniaSoviet political repressionsKatyńvictimhoodmartyrologynational identity
Type
Article
Information
Nationalities Papers , First View , pp. 1 - 24
Check for updates
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for the Study of Nationalities

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bazhan, Oleh, ed. 2000. Pamiat’ Bykivni: Dokumenty ta materialy. Kiev: Ridny krai.Google Scholar
Berkhoff, Karel C. 2015. “Bykivnia: How Grave Robbers, Activists and Foreigners Ended Silence about Stalin’s Graves near Kiev.” In Human Remains and Identification. Mass Violence, Genocide, and the “Forensic Turn,” edited by Anstett, Elizabeth and Dreyfus, Jean-Mark, 59–82. Manchester University Press.Google Scholar
Biliashivs’ky, Bohdan, and Sheptyts’ka, Tetiana, ed. 2017. Bykivnians’ka tragediia v konteksti zlochyniv totalitarnoho rezhymu (do 15-richcha zasnuvannia natsionalnoho istoryko-memorial’noho zapovidnyka “Bykivnians’ki Mohyly”). Kyiv.Google Scholar
Blacker, Uilleam. 2015. “Martyrdom, Spectacle and Public Space: Ukraine’s National Martyrology from Shevchenko to the Maidan.” Journal of Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Society. Martyrdom and Memory in Eastern Europe 1 (2): 257–292.Google Scholar
Blacker, Uilleam, and Fedor, Julie. 2015. “Soviet and Post-Soviet Varieties of Martyrdom and Memory.” Journal of Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Society. Martyrdom and Memory in Eastern Europe 1 (2): 197–215.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bykivnia v systemi politychnykh represii URSR in 1937–1941: Doslidnyts’ki refleksii i interpretatsii. 2014. Kyiv.Google Scholar
Comer, Margaret. 2017. “Uncovering Violent Narratives: The Heritage of Stalinist Repression in Russia since 1991.” In Heritage of Death: Landscapes of Emotion, Memory and Practice, edited by Frihammar, M. and Silverman, H., 164–177. London: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Denysenko, Halyna. 2012. “Mistsia pamiati i pamiatnyky zhertvam ‘Velykoho teroru.’” Kraieznavstvo (1): 101–108.Google Scholar
Dobosh, Halyna. 2009. “Demianiv Laz: ‘Rozkopani i zakopani mohyly.’” Radio Svoboda. October 9, 2009. https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/1848818.html. (Accessed September 14, 2022.)Google Scholar
Etkind, Alexander, Finnin, R., Blacker, U., Fedor, J., Lewis, S., Mälksoo, M., and Mroz, M.. 2012. Remembering Katyn. Malden, MA: Polity Press.Google Scholar
Etkind, Alexander. 2013. Warped Mourning, Stories of the Undead in the Land of the Unburied. Stanford: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Gazeta. ua . 2012. “Memorial u Bykivni vidkryiut’ pol’s’ky i ukrain’sky prezydenty.” September 20, 2012.https://gazeta.ua/articles/ukraine-newspaper/_memorial-u-bikivni-vidkriyut-polskij-i-ukrayinskij-prezidenti/456667. (Accessed September 14, 2022.)Google Scholar
Góra, Mieczysław. 2022. “Wywiad z Panem Mieczysławem Góra uczestnikiem badan w Kijowie–Bykowni w latach 2001–2012.” In Bykivnia – vid terytorii smerti do mistsia pamiati, 230–245. Kyiv.Google Scholar
Istorychna Pravda. 2012. “Poliakam legshe domovytysia pro istoriiu z Yanukovychem, nizh Yushchenkom.” September 25, 2012. https://www.istpravda.com.ua/short/2012/09/25/94801/. (Accessed September 14, 2022.)Google Scholar
Kalbarczyk, Sławomir. 2011. “Ukrains’ky katyns’ky spysok.” Istorychna Pravda. November 9, 2011. https://www.istpravda.com.ua/articles/2011/11/9/61918/. (Accessed September 14, 2022.)Google Scholar
Kalbarczyk, Sławomir. 2020. “The Murder of 7,305 Prisoners as Part of the Katyń Massacre in Light of Polish Historical Research. State of Research. Research Postulate.” In The Katyn Massacre. Current Research, edited by Bębnowski, Damian and Musiał, Filip, 129–144. Warsaw-Cracow.Google Scholar
Kasianov, Georgiy. 2022. Memory Crash: The Politics of History in and around Ukraine, 1980–2010s. Budapest/New York: Central European University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kipiani, Vakhtang. 2012. “Bykivnia “za pershoiu kategoriieiu.” Tyzhden.’ September 24, 2012. https://tyzhden.ua/History/60708. (Accessed September 14, 2022.)Google Scholar
Kharkhun, Valentyna. 2018. “Museumification of the Soviet Past in the Context of Ukrainian Memory Politics.” Journal of Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Society 4 (1): 213–242.Google Scholar
Klumbytė, Neringa. 2020. “Sovereign Pain: Liberation and Suffering in the Museum of Occupations and Freedom Fights in Lithuania.” In Museums of Communism: New Memory Sites in Central and Eastern Europe, edited by Norris, Stephen, 23–45. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krutsyk, Roman. 2011. ‘“Katyn’ u Bykivni??’ Ukraina Moloda. March 3, 2011. https://www.umoloda.kiev.ua/number/1844/163/65484/. (Accessed September 14, 2022.)Google Scholar
Krutsyk, Roman. 2012. “Proignorovana Bykivnia. Den’ pamiati i vlada u bezpamiatstvi.” Istorychna Pravda. May 22, 2012. https://www.istpravda.com.ua/columns/4fbbb2f4c8c88/view_news/. (Accessed September 14, 2022.)Google Scholar
Kryvosheia, Volodymyr, and Onyshko, Lesia. 2011. “Ukrains’ky katyns’ky spysok” – za i proty. Ne vse tak prosto.” Istorychna Pravda. November 17, 2011. https://www.istpravda.com.ua/articles/2011/11/17/62494/. (Accessed September 14, 2022.)Google Scholar
Kudela-Świątek, Wiktoria. 2021. Eternal Memory: Monuments and Memorials of the Holodomor. Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kunert, Andrzej, Siwek, Adam, and Walkowski, Zygmunt. 2012. Polski Cmentarz Wojenny w Kijowie – Bykowni (Czwarty Cmentarz Katyński). Warszawa: Rada Ochrony Pamięci Walk i Męczeństwa.Google Scholar
Kyrylenko, S. 2007. “Bykivnia stane tsvyntarem orliat u vidnosynakh Ukraina-Pol’shcha?” Open letter. August 15, 2007. Vseukrains’ke Tovarystvo ‘Memorial’ im. V. Stusa. http://memorial.kiev.ua/novyny/271-bykivnja-stane-cvyntarom-orljat-u-vidnosynah-ukrajina-polshcha.html. (Accessed September 14, 2022.)Google Scholar
Lysenko, Mykola. 1996. Bykivnia: Zlochyn bez kaiattia. Brovary: Krynytsia.Google Scholar
Lysenko, Mykola. 2013. “Bykivnians’ki mohyly zasterigaiut.’” Uriadovy Kurier. May 13, 2013. https://ukurier.gov.ua/uk/articles/bikivnyanski-mogili-zasterigayut/. (Accessed September 14, 2022.)Google Scholar
Marples, David R., and Laputska, Veranika. 2020. “Kuropaty: Belarus’ Continuing Debates.” Slavic Review 79 (3): 521–543.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mokrushyna, Halyna. 2018. “The Gordian Knot of Past and Present: Memory of Stalinist Purges in Modern Ukraine.” PhD diss., University of Ottawa.Google Scholar
“Natsionalny istoryko-memorial’ny zapovidnyk ‘Bykivnians’ky mohyly.’” 2011. In Istoryko-kulturni zapovidnyky, za redaktsiieiu V. Vechers’kogo, 149–199. Kyiv: Naukovo-doslidny instytut pamiatkoohoronnykh doslidzhen.’Google Scholar
Nora, Pierre. 1989. “Between Memory and History: Les Lieux de Mémoire.” Special Issue: Memory and Counter-Memory. Representations 26: 7–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Osadcha, Iana. 2023. Rada vyznachylasia z mistsem viiskovoho kladovyshcha. Ukrains’ka Pravda. May 2, 2023. https://life.pravda.com.ua/society/2023/05/2/254095/ (Accessed September 14, 2022.)Google Scholar
Pachos, Iuliia. 2017. “Istorychna pamiat’ Pol’shchi v ukraino-pol’s’komu dyskursi.” In Suchasni ukraino-pol’s’ki vidnosyny: Pogliad ekspertiv, edited by Buslenko, V., 73–77. Lutsk: Vezha-Druk.Google Scholar
Polskie Radio. 2018. “Symboliczny Gest Prezydenta Ukrainy na Cmentarzu w Bykowni.” May 20, 2018. https://polskieradio24.pl/5/3/artykul/2126676. (Accessed September 14, 2022.)Google Scholar
President.gov.ua. 2020. “Prezydent ushanuvav pamiat’ zhertv politychnykh represii.” May 15, 2020. https://www.president.gov.ua/news/prezident-ushanuvav-pamyat-zhertv-politichnih-represij-61177. (Accessed September 14, 2022.)Google Scholar
President.gov.ua. 2021.“Prezydent ushanuvav pamiat’ zhertv politychnykh represii.” May 16, 2021. https://www.president.gov.ua/news/prezident-ukrayini-vshanuvav-pamyat-zhertv-politichnih-repre-68473. (Accessed September 14, 2022.)Google Scholar
Radio Svoboda. 2015. “U Bykivni na memoriali nemaie vsih prizvyshch rozstrilianyh ukraintsiv – Shapoval.” March 25, 2015 https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/26920171.html. (Accessed September 14, 2022.)Google Scholar
Rosenblatt, Adam. 2010. “International Forensic Investigations and the Human Rights of the Dead,” Human Rights Quarterly 32: 921–950.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rozhenko, M., and Bohats’ka, E., ed. 1999. Sosny Bykivni svidchat’: Zlochyn proty liudstva. Knyha persha. Ukrains’ky tsentr dukhovnoi kul’tury.Google Scholar
Skorokhod, Olga. 2019. “Na kompromisy v pytanniakh natsional’noii pamiati ia ity ne budu.” Tsenzor.net. June 12, 2019. https://censor.net/ua/resonance/3131920/na_kompromisy_u_pytannyah_natsionalnoyi_pamyati_ya_yity_ne_budu_volodymyr_vyatrovych. (Accessed September 14, 2022.)Google Scholar
Shapoval, Iuri. 2003. “Bykivnia.” In Entsyklopediia suchasnoii Ukrainy: Elektronna versiia, edited by Dziuba, I., Zhukovsky, A., Zhelezniak ta in, M.. Kyiv: Instytut entsyklopedychykh doslidzhen’ NAN Ukrainy. http://esu.com.ua/search_articles.php?id=41777. (Accessed September 14, 2022.)Google Scholar
Shapoval, Iuri. 2007. “Bykivnia: Materializatsiia istorychnoii pamiati.” Dzerkalo Tyzhnia, May 18, 2007. https://zn.ua/ukr/SOCIUM/bikivnya_materializatsiya_istorichnoyi_pamyati.html. (Accessed September 14, 2022.)Google Scholar
Sheptyts’ka, Tetiana. 2020. “Bykivnia i Katyn’ u politytsi pamiati Pol’shchi i Ukrainy.” In Miejsca/Miejsce Pamięci Polsko-Ukrainski. Dialog Porozumienia (80 Rocznica Zbrodni Katyńskiej), 207–215. [zbiór materiałów Międzynarodowej naukowo-praktycznej konferencji (21 listopada 2020 r.)] [zespół red.: W. Melnik et al.]; Ambasada Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej w Kijowie, Federacja Organizacji Polskich na Ukrainie, Instytut Historii Ukrainy NAN Ukrainy. Kijów; Warszawa: Printeko.Google Scholar
Shevel, Oxana. 2014. “Memories of the Past and Vision of the Future: Remembering the Soviet Era and Its End in Ukraine.” In Twenty Years after Communism: The Politics of Memory and Commemoration, edited by Bernhard, Michael and Kubik, Jan, 146–167. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taraniuk, Irena. 2015. “Katyn’ i Bykivnia u programi Komorovs’kogo.” BBC Ukraine. April 8, 2015https://www.bbc.com/ukrainian/politics/2015/04/150407_poland_ukraine_katyn_it. (Accessed September 14, 2022.)Google Scholar
Törquist-Plewa, Barbara, and Yurchyk, Yulia. 2017. “Memory Politics in Contemporary Ukraine: Reflection from the Postcolonial Perspective.” Memory Studies 12 (6): 1–22.Google Scholar
Ua.bykivnya.org. 2020. “Prezydent Respubliky Pol’shcha Andzhei Duda vshanuvav pamiat’ zhertv totalitaryzmu.” 2020. Natsional’ny Istoryko-Memorialny Zapovidnyk “Bykivnians’ki mohyly.” October 10, 2020. http://ua.bykivnya.org/article/20_10_12_prezident_respubliki_polscha_andjey_duda_vshanuvav_pamyat_jertv_totalitarizmu_u_bikivni. (Accessed September 14, 2022.)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ukrains’ka Pravda. 2007. Yushchenko vshanuvav zhertv komunistiv. May 20, 2007. https://www.pravda.com.ua/articles/2007/05/20/3239693/. (Accessed September 14, 2022.)Google Scholar
Ukrinform. 2016. “Poroshenko: Bykivnia stala spil’nym nekropolem dlia Ukraintsiv i Poliakiv.” May 15, 2016. https://www.ukrinform.ua/rubric-society/2017345-porosenko-bikivna-stala-spilnim-nekropolem-dla-ukrainciv-ta-polakiv.html.(Accessed September 14, 2022.)Google Scholar
Verdery, Katherine. 1999. The Political Lives of Dead Bodies: Reburial and Postsocialist Change. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
YouTube. 2022. “Videozvernennia Petra Poroshenka u Den’ pamiati zhertv politychnykh represii.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skXO4awz1mA. (Accessed September 14, 2022.)Google Scholar
YouTube. 2021. “Poroshenko vziav uchast’ u vshanuvannii zhertv komunistychnykh represii u Bykivnii.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Jh3i2Vc8vI. (Accessed September 14, 2022.)Google Scholar
Vbeloz.gov.ua. 2017. “Vystyp Prezydenta na tseremonii vshanuvannia pamiati zhertv politychnykh represii u Natsional’nomu zapovidnyku “Bykivnians’ki mohyly.” 2017. https://vbeloz.gov.ua/news/13-56-03-22-05-2017/. (Accessed September 14, 2022.)Google Scholar
Warner, Lloyd W. 1959. The Living and the Dead. A Study of Symbolic Life of Americans. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Zvid pamiatok istorii ta kultury . 2003. Kyiv. V.1. No. 2. Kyiv: Golovna redaktsiia zvodu pamiatok istorii ta kultury pry vydavnytctvi “Ukrains’ka Entsyklopediia.”Google Scholar