“There is still no officially designated memorial site in Berlin dedicated to Ukrainian victims of the Second World War,” said the co-founder and PR manager of the Vitsche in a comment to LB.ua. “In Germany, public memory of the Second World War is still largely shaped by Soviet narratives. As a result, Ukrainian perspectives often remain overlooked, even though millions of Ukrainians fell victim to war, occupation, deportation, forced labour, political repression and brutal policies of extermination.”
To address this, Vitsche activists organised a Week of Remembrance for Ukraine. It culminated in a performative memorial event entitled Ukraine in Memory: A March for the Creation of a Memorial Site in Germany.
On 8 May at 6.30 pm, participants marched from Friedrichstraße station to the Bundestag to call for the creation of an official memorial site in Germany dedicated to Ukrainian victims of the Second World War.
The march included a Lament and paid tribute to the millions of Ukrainians whose suffering remains largely absent from German memory culture.
Throughout the week, discussions, lectures and book presentations on topics including historical memory, decolonisation and Crimea took place at various venues across Berlin.