Public Talk - War, Archives, and Academic Responsibility: KGB Archives and Russia's Full-Scale Invasion of Ukraine
𝗔 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘆 𝗞𝗼𝗵𝘂𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗹 𝗦𝗵𝗺𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘃, 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗮 𝗞𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗲𝗻𝗸𝗼-𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, launched in February 2022, brought about much destruction to Ukraine’s cultural heritage, and many Ukrainian historical sites and art institutions have already been destroyed. Also an assault on cultural memory, history, and the archival heritage of Ukraine, the war poses a direct threat to the KGB records currently housed in the Sectoral Archive of the Security Service of Ukraine in Kyiv. The archive contains paper records of many atrocities committed by the Soviet regime and is assumed to be the target of regular shelling. Additionally, Ukraine- based archives of KGB files are known to be the largest of their kind in any democratic country that was formerly a USSR member state. Given the threat of these records' destruction, it is not only Ukraine’s archival heritage that is at stake, but that of the entire region of Eastern Europe.
Join CIUS Director 𝗗𝗿. 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗮 𝗞𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗲𝗻𝗸𝗼-𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻 in conversation with 𝗗𝗿. 𝗔𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘆 𝗞𝗼𝗵𝘂𝘁 and 𝗗𝗿. 𝗔𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗹 𝗦𝗵𝗺𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘃 as they discuss how decommunization politics in Eastern Europe and in Ukraine specifically have affected their work in archives and special collections, and how Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine has affected both the possibilities within and the priorities for their collections.
𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
𝗪𝗮𝗿, 𝗔𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗰𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: 𝗞𝗚𝗕 𝗔𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝘂𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗮'𝘀 𝗙𝘂𝗹𝗹-𝗦𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗨𝗸𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗲
𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗲: 𝟮 𝗢𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯
𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲: 𝟰:𝟬𝟬 𝗽.𝗺. 𝗠𝗗𝗧
𝗟𝗼𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 𝗛𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗛𝗮𝗹𝗹 - 𝗥𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗟𝗶𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗿𝘆, 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗹𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗮 (𝗻𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗽𝘂𝘀)
𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀
𝗗𝗿. 𝗔𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗹 𝗦𝗵𝗺𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘃 is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution (Stanford University), the Robert Conquest Curator for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia at the Hoover Institution Library & Archives, and the project archivist for its Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Collection. Shmelev’s expertise is in twentieth-century Russian history, specializing in the Russian Civil War. As curator, he is principally responsible for acquiring archival materials relating to Russia, the Soviet Union, Ukraine, Belarus, and the independent states that emerged from the USSR after 1991.
𝗗𝗿. 𝗔𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘆 𝗞𝗼𝗵𝘂𝘁 is a Director of the Sectoral State Archive of the Security Service of Ukraine. The Archive stores the world's largest collection of declassified KGB files. He had to suspend his 2021-2022 Fulbright Fellowship at Stanford University at the beginning of March 2022 because of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. His recent articles have focused on the Soviet deportation operation "West" ("Запад"). His academic and professional interests cover various topics related to Soviet deportations, communist secret services history, memory politics, and cultural diplomacy.