Political Utilization of the Term of “Genocide” in the Former Soviet sphere of influence: Legal and Historical-political Discourses

The naming of a mass crime as “genocide” is a political issue and has long gone beyond the dimension of international law. Increasingly in recent years, political actors in the states of the former Soviet Union and the satellite states have been drawing comparisons with the present by referring to historical violence described as genocidal. For years, Putin’s regime in the Russian Federation has used trumped-up accusations of genocide as a means of political pressure. The newly invented concept of the “Genocide of Peoples of the USSR” during World War II is used in Russia to declare the Soviet population the main victims of the Nazis. At the same time, Vladimir Putin’s conduct of the war in Ukraine is being tried in The Hague as genocidal. His conduct of the war was also one of the reasons why the German Bundestag subsequently recognized the Holodormor as genocide after parliamentarians had twice rejected a petition on the matter in previous years.
In response to civil protests in the summer of 2020, the Belarusian regime developed a historical-political project around the “Genocide of the Belarusian People” in World War II in order to create a national identity after the brutal suppression of demonstrations. Both regimes share a common rhetoric of the inevitability of struggle with a “collective West,” which had already gone to war against the USSR in 1941 and is now attacking Russia again in Ukraine.
The use of the term “genocide” in state rhetoric can also be observed in other former Eastern Bloc countries. For example, in Poland, the massacre committed by Ukrainian nationalists against Polish civilians in Volyn during World War II is called “genocide.” In 2023, the spokesperson for the Polish Foreign Ministry demanded that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy apologize to his Polish counterpart. Especially in the successor states of the former western Soviet republics, such as the Baltic states and Ukraine, the term “genocide” is used to describe Stalinist crimes. The fact that the experience of the Soviet occupation must also be part of the European culture of remembrance was demonstrated by the European Parliament, which established 23 August as a pan-European day of remembrance for the victims of all totalitarian and authoritarian regimes. The examination of Soviet crimes from a post-colonial perspective can also be observed in other former Soviet republics such as Kazakhstan.
The workshop aims to discuss the usage in political rhetoric and (pseudo)-academic writings references to mass violence as an act of “genocide” in the states of former Soviet sphere of influence. Topics of presentations may include, while not being limited to, the following:
- international relations and political motivation for recognition or denial of genocides;
- historical justification for ongoing genocide recognitions;
- role of witnesses in contemporary legal and historical processes related to “genocide” and mass atrocities;
- role of current court processes in the public domestic and international sphere;
- scholars and activists as actors in the politics of history, especially in relation to the recognition and commemoration of genocides;
- recognition or denial of “genocides” in the Eastern Bloc countries after the adoption of the Genocide Convention in 1948;
- status of the victim of genocide in Eastern European politics, both domestically and in international relations.
We welcome presentations at all career stages, particularly (but not exclusively) from the fields of history, cultural anthropology, ethnology, cultural studies, Eastern European studies, Slavic studies, literary studies, social sciences, law, and related disciplines. Proposals should be submitted in English and include an abstract up to 250 words and a short biographical note (approximately 100 words) by October 31, 2024. Please submit your application at https://forms.gle/e89ioSf3v9qJkTCB6. Applicants will be notified by November 30, 2024.
The workshop organizers are Dr. Irina Rebrova, researcher at ZfA TU Berlin, Alfred Landecker lecturer, and Gundula Pohl, researcher and PhD candidate at the department of Public History, FernUniversität in Hagen. The workshop will be conducted in English. The organizers will provide accommodations (one night in Berlin) and most meals. Travel expenses will be reimbursed up to a maximum of 130 euros. Given our tight financial constraints, we would appreciate, if you could explore alternative funding options for your participation in the workshop. We aim to publish successful presentations in a peer-reviewed volume after the workshop. If you have any questions, please contact Irina Rebrova or Gundula Pohl via workshop.genocidestudies@gmail.com. This workshop is made possible by financial support of Alfred Landecker Foundation and Zeitlehren Foundation.