Between Two Dictatorships: Memory, Responsibility and Freedom
Prof. Boris Sabarko and Prof. Irina Scherbakowa are two personalities whose biographies and decades of work stand in a special way for historical remembrance, human rights and civil society.
Prof. Boris Sabarko is a Holocaust survivor, historian, President of the Ukrainian Association of Former Ghetto and Concentration Camp Survivors, and a recipient of the Federal Cross of Merit. As a child, he survived a ghetto in Ukraine. For decades, he has documented the Shoah and preserved the testimonies of its survivors. Sabarko continues to live in Kyiv. Some time ago, his apartment was damaged in a missile strike and he himself was injured. Nevertheless, he continues his work: he publishes books and documentary works, speaks to numerous interested groups and young people, and together with his colleagues remains committed to supporting survivors in need and to his homeland, Ukraine.
Prof. Irina Scherbakowa is one of the internationally best-known representatives of Memorial. For decades, she has worked on the history of state repression, historical memory and human rights. In 2022, Memorial was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize together with Ales Bialiatski and the Ukrainian Center for Civil Liberties. Today, Scherbakowa and her colleagues are also committed to supporting political prisoners and Ukrainian citizens held in Russian detention.
The discussion will address the experiences of the two dictatorships of the 20th century – National Socialism and Stalinism – and the question of what these experiences mean for our present. How can memory be preserved as the last eyewitnesses pass away? What responsibility does this create for democratic societies? And what role do historical memory, human rights and civil society play in the face of Russia’s ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine?
The event also forms part of a developing cooperation between the Ukrainian Association of Former Ghetto and Concentration Camp Survivors, Zukunft MEMORIAL, the Friends of Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum in Odessa and the Blavatnik Archive. One of the joint projects is the digitization and long-term preservation of the collection of the Holocaust Museum in Odessa.
Moderation
German Moyzhes, lawyer and Acting Managing Director of Kahal Adass Jisroel e.V.
Event page / registration:
https://zukunft-memorial.org/veranstaltungen/index
Contact for registration and inquiries:
info@zukunft-memorial.org
Venue:
Zukunft MEMORIAL e.V. / c/o Körber-Stiftung
Pariser Platz 4a
10117 Berlin
Accessibility: Accessible.
Main organizer:
Zukunft MEMORIAL e.V.
With the support of:
Kahal Adass Jisroel e.V.
Berliner Sparkasse
