The All-Ukrainian Scientific and Practical Seminar for History Teachers and Methodists “Culture of World War II and the Holocaust Remembrance” dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Babyn Yar tragedy was held in Kharkiv on August 16-18. The educational event was organized by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, “Tkuma” Ukrainian Institute for Holocaust Studies, Museum “Jewish Memory and Holocaust in Ukraine” with the support of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance.

Welcoming speeches were said by:

- Chief Specialist of the Directorate of Preschool, School, Extracurricular and Inclusive Education of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, Honored Educator of Ukraine Raisa Yevtushenko (Kyiv);

- Rector of Kharkiv Academy of Continuing Education, Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, Associate Professor, Honored Educator of Ukraine Lyubov Pokroyeva (Kharkiv);

- Candidate of Historical Sciences, Director “Tkuma” Institute, Museum “Jewish Memory and Holocaust in Ukraine”, Honored Educator of Ukraine Igor Shchupak (Dnipro).

The participants of the three-day seminar were methodologists of regional institutes of postgraduate pedagogical education – coordinators of the system of teaching history and social disciplines in all regions of Ukraine, heads of district methodological associations, teachers.

During the seminar numerous issues were discussed, e. g.:

- scientific and theoretical foundations of teaching the Holocaust and other genocides;

- educational and methodological support for teaching the history of World War II and the Holocaust;

- effective methods of teaching history in terms of the project “New Ukrainian School” etc.

Among other things, the following events were of particular interest to the participants of the seminar:

- Lecture-dispute “Memory of World War II, the Holocaust and the tragedy of Babyn Yar: public policy, social atmosphere, research”, conducted by Dr. Igor Shchupak;

- Museum workshop with a visit to the Memorial Complex “Drobitsky Yar”, as well as the Memorial to the Victims of Totalitarianism in Pyatihatki;

- Open discussion “Babyn Yar: a symbol of the Holocaust and other victims of Nazism”, moderated by Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, Deputy Director of Chernomorsk Secondary School № 1 Vyacheslav Mayorsky (Odessa region), Candidate of Law, Director, Law Teacher of Kharkiv Private Educational Complex "Veresen" of the Kharkiv region Victoria Pavlovskaya-Kravchuk (Kharkiv), Dr. Igor Shchupak.

In particular, the educators shared their own experiences of preserving the memory of World War II and the Holocaust. Teachers and methodologists pointed out that this work needs to be systematic, and not mentioned only during the commemoration of extracurricular activities. Search expeditions of young people in the regions, scientific works at the Academy of Sciences, meetings with witnesses of those events – all this, according to the seminar participants, contributes to the formation of a culture of Holocaust remembrance, which is part of the national historical memory of Ukraine.