On the occasion of the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, on January 23, the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War presented a unique science publication - "Auschwitz concentration camp - Ukrainian dimension: studies, documents, testimonies". Scientists of the National Historical and Memorial Preserve "Babyn Yar" Volodymyr Kornelyuk, Mykhailo Gutor participated in the presentation.
This book, without exaggeration, is a milestone for the scientific understanding of the place and phenomenon of the Auschwitz concentration camp in the history of Ukraine during the Second World War. In fact, it was the first attempt to cover, as far as possible, all Ukrainians and inhabitants of the territory of modern Ukraine, whose stay in the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp complex was documented in one way or another. In particular, attention was paid to the national, social and age constituents of the prisoners, their categories in camp, and the systematization of the causes of getting to Auschwitz. One of the important sub-themes of the book was the psychological one, namely the analysis of the strategies of survival of people behind barbed wire. The Auschwitz phenomenon has been examined in several different historical contexts: the Holocaust, the fate of the prisoners of war of the Soviet army, repression of the Third Reich against Ukrainian nationalists, a system of punishments of Ostarbeiters, etc.
The publication contains seven scientific studies, which were worked by 12 authors, one and a half dozen interviews of former prisoners of the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp, recorded by employees of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War and the Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Museum, as well as the memoirs of two prisoners who recorded them themselves.
Particularly noteworthy is the scientific apparatus of the publication, which includes the "List of Ukrainians and inhabitants of the territory of modern Ukraine - prisoners of the Auschwitz concentration camp", biographical information, names and geographical indications. There is a rich photo material also.
The book is intended for scholars, teachers, students and anyone interested in the history of Ukraine in World War II. It may be particularly interesting to people who are looking for wartime memories of their loved ones
