Mahaletskyi A. The Holocaust in the Zhytomyr Region in Commemorative Practices and Postmemory

The dissertation examines the implementation of Holocaust policy in the territory of the Zhytomyr region during the period of Nazi occupation and the peculiarities of the formation of memory about these events in the postwar Soviet period and during the time of independent Ukraine. The study analyzes the preconditions, course, and consequences of the destruction of the Jewish population of the region, the participation of the local population in the persecution and rescue of Jews, as well as the postwar situation of the Jewish community. The aim of the research is to study the implementation of Holocaust policy in the Zhytomyr region and its reflection in commemorative practices and postmemory. The source base of the research consists of archival documents from central and regional archives, materials from the archives of the Security Service of Ukraine, oral history testimonies, and scholarly literature. The scientific novelty of the research lies in conducting a comprehensive study of the Holocaust in the Zhytomyr region through the lens of commemorative practices and postmemory, as well as introducing new archival documents and oral history materials into scholarly circulation. The research demonstrates that memory of the Holocaust in the region was shaped under the influence of Soviet policies of silencing the tragedy and gradually transformed during the period of Ukraine’s independence.