…We should have been writing about weddings, the folk calendar, folklore, and gastronomy, but instead, we are writing about survival strategies…
Since May 2022, the Chernihiv WAR Center team (Olga Berezovska, Olha Vorobei, Olena Boriak, Anastasia Pankova, Svitlana Makhovska, Oleksandr Vasianovych) has been working in the Chernihiv region. Using systematically developed questionnaires and consent forms, we record the stories of the civilian population—memories of surviving the occupation and the blockade of Chernihiv. Hundreds of respondents, hundreds of stories now form the foundation of memory regarding the spring of 2022 in the borderlands of Chernihiv.
The first interviews can be found in the publication “Chernihiv in the 2022 War: Voices of Eyewitnesses” (digital version available via the Institute of History of Ukraine, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine). Our work continues through annual February international conferences with published proceedings (available at the Rusov Chernihiv Regional Scientific Library, the Chernihiv City Centralized Library System, and the Institute of History of Ukraine platform).
On February 20-21, 2026, the international conference “WAR, SCIENCE, AND EMOTIONS: Temporal Dimensions of Oral History Sources” concluded. It brought together researchers from 11 countries (Canada, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, France, Bosnia, USA, Lithuania, Poland, Azerbaijan, and Ukraine)—nearly a hundred participants who all spoke about war: survival strategies of Ukrainians during the Holodomor and the current Russian war in Ukraine.
Over 18 hours of work, we heard presentations from 72 speakers. As these two days of fruitful labor demonstrated, being part of a professional and engaged community is incredibly inspiring, filling us with new ideas and complex reflections. Despite the challenges with the power supply, we managed to maintain connectivity in Chernihiv and strictly follow the schedule—meaning every voice was heard. Kateryna Lytvyn and Oleksandr Shevchuk, you achieved the impossible!
Special gratitude goes to the conference experts—Gelinada Grinchenko, Natalia Khanenko-Friesen, Olha Koliastruk, Maryna Hrymych, and Alla Kyrydon—for creating the conditions to step beyond research comfort zones and “professional bubbles.” We also thank the moderators for their “conductive mastery” in facilitating this interdisciplinary exchange of experiences.
If only there were no war….
Our sincere thanks to all colleagues for their work and participation!
Partners and Organizers:
Department of Culture and Tourism of the Chernihiv City Council, Institute of History of Ukraine (NASU), Northern Cultural Capital, Documenting Ukraine Project, Chernihiv WAR Center, Ukrainian Oral History Association, Alexander Lazarevsky Institute of History and Socio-Humanitarian Disciplines, T.G. Shevchenko National University “Chernihiv Collegium.”
