'Why deny what really happened?': De-Commemoration of the Soviet Past in Ukraine’s Urban Space

• In Event: Experiencing, Remembering, and Forgetting Social Advancement in (Post)Socialist Societies

Abstract

This paper explores how contemporary Ukraine’s politics of memory largely neglects the social advancements achieved by Soviet Ukraine. This omission creates tension between lived experiences and state ideology, marginalizing—and at times even criminalizing—those who remember and commemorate the Soviet era in a more nuanced way. Amid the ongoing war, these politics of memory further deepen existing social cleavages, adding another layer of tension to Ukrainian society.

Author

• Anna Ivanova, Justus Liebig U Giessen (Germany)