ABSTRACT
The chapter presents the findings of a study aimed at identifying tendencies within Ukrainian collective memory of the war – specifically, what Ukrainians will wish to remember and what they will seek to forget about the ongoing war against their nation and state. The research was conducted among the Polish minority residing in Ukraine in order to avoid formulaic or standardised responses from ethnic Ukrainians. Drawing on Pierre Nora’s theory of lieux de mémoire (sites of memory), the authors analyse statements from members of the Polish minority in Ukraine to identify elements that reflect wartime experiences likely (or unlikely) to contribute to Ukraine’s post-war national narrative. The qualitative study, based on in-depth interviews with members of the Polish minority (N=15), reveals an apparently contradictory tendency within the sphere of Ukrainian collective memory. Ukrainians appear to want to pass on to future generations the very same elements they simultaneously wish to suppress within their national consciousness. These elements include the brutality of Russian forces and the pathologies within Ukrainian governance. This paradox is examined in detail in the chapter.
