Why is Ukraine still missing in Germany’s memory culture?

During WWII, over 10 million people from Ukraine died — as civilians under Nazi terror, as victims of Communist repressions, as Red Army soldiers, as forced laborers in Nazi Germany or representatives of the Jewish or Roma communities. The territory of Ukraine was place to one of the heaviest human losses in Europe — yet in Germany’s culture of remembrance, their scale and stories remain invisible. 

The Soviet narrative erased Ukraine
The Soviet memory of victory never recognized Ukraine’s distinct suffering. All victims were counted as Soviet citizens, erasing national identities. This eradicated individual fates and their memory  — the Soviet state celebrated heroism, but the suffering of millions stayed aside..

Germany inherits a russocentric view
In post-war Germany the new communist leaders in the Soviet occupation zone built grand monuments to pay tribute to the Red Army’s triumph.  But these memorials treat the Soviet Union as one single people — many Germans perceived and still see them as russians. There is still no monument or dedicated sign for Ukrainians. No mention of Ukrainian or  losses of other nations that constituted the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics.

The silence in the West
In West Germany, memory centered around German occupation of Western Europe and the crimes of the Shoah — while the experiences of the war of annihilation in Eastern Europe, including Ukraine, remained largely invisible and ignored behind the iron curtain.

Why this matters
Today, myths from WWII are still alive. Russia uses them to justify new wars — including the invasion of Ukraine. Without recognition of Ukraine’s and many other nations’ WWII experiences and suffering, Soviet imperial narratives continue to shape the present.

Large parts of Ukraine’s cultural, economic and demographic basis were destroyed. These consequences and the subsequent Soviet policies of russification can still be observed today. 

History is used as a weapon.
By denying Ukraine’s suffering in WWII, the today’s aggressor seeks to deny Ukraine’s right to exist. A modern memory culture must confront this — not repeat old silences.

That’s why we are launching a campaign: “Ukraine in Memory.”
Over the coming weeks, we will be sharing forgotten stories, organizing public lectures, and holding a commemorative march in Berlin.

Our goal: to make Ukraine’s wartime experience visible. 

We call for a Ukrainian place of remembrance in Berlin: to honor the dead, to tell stories and give a bigger picture, to prevent memory from being misused.