Forensic Archaeology in Ukraine

Pogrom and Holocaust mass graves in Ukraine: current situations and future solutions

Project Team: Dr Daria Cherkaska (Postdoctoral Research Fellow) and Professor Caroline Sturdy Colls (Project Supervisor).

This research was made possible by the support of the Rothschild Foundation Hanadiv Europe.

Project Summary

This project aims to evaluate how mass graves of pogrom and Holocaust victims in the current territory of Ukraine have been perceived, commemorated and looted in the years since World War II and to make recommendations for their protection to the State and local communities. 

This study will facilitate a deeper understanding of the causes, mechanisms and consequences of the ongoing neglect of many of these graves (and thus help to find solutions to prevent it in the future). It will also ensure the identification of previously unmarked graves using non-invasive forensic archaeological approaches, thus further safeguarding Jewish heritage and providing new insights into Jewish experiences of mass violence. The following objectives indicate the various steps completed to accomplish these aims:

Objective 1: to determine how many graves currently have protected status in Ukraine and to establish their current condition.

Objective 2: to identify previously unmarked pogrom and Holocaust-era graves within a case study region and to evaluate their past and current treatment.

Ukrainian grave Ukrainian grave

Objective 3: to analyse different types of looting that has occurred and is occurring at pogrom and Holocaust mass graves in Ukraine.

Objective 4: to evaluate the current Ukrainian legal system and worldwide practice regarding the prevention of looting of cultural and archaeological heritage, with a focus on identifying legal frameworks directly relevant to pogrom and Holocaust-era sites.

Objective 5: to develop strategies for crime prevention and provide guidance on the most suitable way for the government and local authorities to protect pogrom and Holocaust mass graves in Ukraine from illegal excavation and vandalism in the future. Moreover, the ongoing Full-Scale Russian invasion posed another aim of this project: to monitor and record harms and damages caused by military actions and Russian missile attacks on pogrom and Holocaust victim's mass graves

 

Project and Related Publications

Cherkaska, D., Sturdy Colls, C. and Colls, K. (2024). Archaeological Approaches in Investigations of Holocaust-Related Mass Graves: A Ukrainian Perspective, Ukraina Moderna 35: 89-123. DOI: 10.3138/ukrainamoderna.35.089. 

Cherkaska, D. (2022). The application of forensic archaeological methods for Holocaust studies in Ukraine. Unpublished Doctoral Thesis, Staffordshire University. Available here.