Authors

Tatiana Vagramenko¹;  ¹ University College Cork, Ireland

Discussion

This paper explores the impact of war in Ukraine on religious minority communities and their archives, highlighting both their vulnerability and their newfound agency amidst Russia’s military aggression. The archives at the center of this research were either relocated, smuggled, destroyed, stolen, or, conversely, opened after several decades of having been concealed from outsiders’ eyes. What unites them all is their shared history deeply rooted in the Soviet past—a time marked by suppression, secrecy, and control. This legacy of persecution and survival continues to shape the life of these religious communities and the fate of their archives today. The historical experience of violence and oppression became a common thread that united many religious minority communities in Ukraine. By saving their once-again endangered historical legacy, by revising the narratives of the past, communities strive to confront and to make sense of the enduring effects of oppression and violence.
As the post-Soviet era was coming to an end with the destruction brought by the war, archival records and archival activism gained profound political significance. They serve not only as tools for reclaiming the community’s place in history but also as mechanisms for empowerment in the present, confronting the unresolved past and strengthening resilience in a time of profound uncertainty. In this context, community archives are far from being neutral repositories of records; they have become active agents in the struggle over memory, meaning-making, and identity. Amid the conflict and “memory wars,” they have emerged as both symbols of resistance and tools for activism. The act of rescuing, revising, and re-narrating these archives is not merely a response to immediate threats but also a deeper confrontation with the enduring legacies of Soviet repression and trauma.