Historians sign petition objecting to the inclusion of a nationalist who praised a Nazi collaborator

To the Organizers of the Symposium “The Holocaust in Ukraine. New Perspectives on the Evils of the 20th Century,” Paris, March 9-11, 2017

We are concerned about the fact that Volodymyr Viatrovych, Director of the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory, will be speaking at the symposium “The Holocaust in Ukraine. New Perspectives on the Evils of the 20th Century” on March 9-11, 2017. It is well documented that his publications do not correspond to international academic standards and serve to support a nationalist agenda. He was also instrumental in the drafting of laws which have been widely criticized in the international academic community for their clear potential to stifle open debate about the history of Ukrainian nationalism, especially during World War Two. We understand the need for controversial and free discussion, but we also think that inviting Volodymyr Viatrovych to speak on this topic at your conference in effect risks normalizing and legitimizing politicized attempts to downplay the antisemitic ideas and actions of World War Two Ukrainian nationalists.

Nous avons des concernes du fait que Volodymyr Viatrovych, le directeur de l’Institute de la mémoire nationale Ukrainienne, parlera au symposium « The Holocaust in Ukraine : New Perspectives on the Evils of the 20th Century, » qui aura lieu le 9 à 11 Mars, 2017. C’est bien documenté que ses publications ne correspondent pas aux critères académiques internationaux et sont au service d’un programme nationaliste. Il a joué un rôle clef dans la création des lois qui ont été critiquées sévèrement dans la communauté académique internationale pour leur fort potentiel à asphyxier un débat libre sur l’histoire du nationalisme Ukrainien, surtout de l’époque de la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Nous comprenons le besoin d’une discussion ouverte et controversée, mais nous croyons que l’invitation de Volodymyr Viatrovych à parler sur ce sujet à votre conférence risquera, en effet, de normaliser et légitimer des tentatives politisées de minimiser l’importance des idées et actions antisémites des nationalistes Ukrainiens de la Seconde Guerre mondiale.

Felix Ackermann, German Historical Institute, Warsaw
Tarik Cyril Amar, Associate Professor, Department of History, Columbia University
Volodymyr Artiukh, PhD Candidate, Central European University, Budapest
Omer Bartov, John P. Birkelund Distinguished Professor of European History, Department of History
Delphine Bechtel, Université Paris-Sorbonne (Paris IV), UFR d'Etudes germaniques et Nordiques et CIRCE - Centre Interdisciplinaire de Recherches Centre-Européennes
Elissa Bemporad, Jerry and William Ungar Chair in East European Jewish History and the Holocaust, Associate Professor, Department of History, Queens College and the CUNY Graduate Center
Waitman Wade Beorn, PhD Lecturer, Corcoran Department of History, University of Virginia
Jeffrey Burds, Associate Professor of History, Northeastern University
Johan Dietsch, Lund University, Sweden
Rossen Djagalov, Assistant Professor of Russian and Slavic Studies, NYU
Elżbieta Janicka, Institut of Slavic Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences
Olga Linkiewicz, Tadeusz Manteuffel Institute of History, Warsaw
Christian Ganzer, PhD Candidate, Leipzig University
J. Arch Getty, Distinguished Research Professor of Russian History, UCLA
Jan Grabowski, Professor/Professeur titulaire, Department of History/Département d’histoire, University of Ottawa/Université d’Ottawa
Jan T. Gross, Norman B. Tomlinson '16 and '48 Professor of War and Society, Professor of History, Princeton University
Jared McBride, Lecturer, History Department, UCLA
Mykhailo Minakov, D. Habil., Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Editor-in-chief, Ideology and Politics Journal, President, Foundation for Good Politics/Eastern European Analytical Group
Andriy Movchan, Journalist, Ukraine
Marla Raucher Osborn, Lawyer
Constantine Pleshakov, PhD
Dr. Alexander Prusin, Professor of History, Humanities Department, New Mexico Tech
David Alan Rich, Lecturer and Visiting Researcher, Catholic University of America
Brandon M. Schechter, Elihu Rose Scholar in Modern Military History, History Department, New York University
Helene Sinnreich, Fern and Manfred Steinfeld Associate Professor in Judaic Studies, University of Tennessee at Knoxville
Richard Steigmann-Gall, PhD, Associate Professor of History, Director of Jewish Studies, 2004-2010, Kent State University
Per Anders Rudling, Associate Professor, Lund University, Senior Visiting Fellow, National University of Singapore
Rakefet Zalashik, Edinburgh University