CONFERENCE
In the presentation “Latvia in the Second World War: Research Problems and Challenges,” Jānis Tomaševskis will examine the main issues of researching the history of World War II in Latvia after the restoration of independence of Latvia, as well as research directions and challenges today.
In the presentation “Ukraine in the Second World War: Some Topical Issues,” Associate Professor Andrii Rukkas will address crucial and still debated aspects of Ukraine’s role and place in the history of the Second World War. It will emphasize the scale of the Ukrainian people’s contribution to the victory over Nazism, highlighting the sacrifice of millions of Ukrainians at the front lines of the Red Army, in partisan resistance, and within the nationalist underground. Particular attention will be paid to the tragic fate of Ukrainian lands, which became one of the main theaters of military operations and occupation terror. The lecture also will raise the issue of how Ukrainian aspirations for independence intersected with the global struggle against totalitarian regimes. The lecture will argue for the need to overcome outdated imperial narratives and to assert Ukraine’s rightful place in the collective memory of World War II as a nation that fought for its survival, dignity, and freedom. This approach is vital not only for historical justice but also for strengthening Ukraine’s identity and its voice in the international academic discourse.
About lecturers
Jānis Tomaševskis is historian at the Latvian War Museum, holds MA in History (University of Latvia, 2009). He is currently working on his doctoral thesis “Latvian Anti-Soviet Armed Resistance at the Outset of the German–Soviet War in the Summer of 1941: Origins, Composition, Structure, and Activities”. He is the author and compiler of the books “Whispers of Independence: The History of the Latvian Provisional National Council” (2017) and “Arvīds Krīpens: With Sword and Pen for Latvia” (2024). He has authored and co-authored more than 20 scholarly articles. His research interests include armed resistance and collaboration, Latvian soldiers in foreign military formations during the Second World War etc.
Andrii Rukkas is an Associate Professor at the Department of History of Central and Eastern Europe, Faculty of History, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (Ukraine). He graduated from the same university, where he has been working for almost 30 years. He teaches various courses related to the history of Central and Eastern Europe, including the history of the Holocaust. He serves as the Research Supervisor of the Genocide and Mass Repression Research Center at the Faculty of History. In 2015, he was an Invited Scholar at the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM). In 2022, he was elected a Foreign Member of the Latvian Academy of Sciences. He is the author of more than 120 academic and popular publications.
The event is supported by the Embassy of Ukraine in Latvia and the State Research Programme "Navigating the Latvian History of the 20th–21st Century: Social Morphogenesis, Legacy and Challenges" (Project No: VPP-IZM-Vesture-2023/1-0003).
 at the University of Latvia, 19 Raiņa Blvd., and online.
The event will feature two lectures in English, delivered by a historian at the Latvian War Museum and a Ph.D. student at the University of Latvia Jānis Tomaševskis and a historian, Associate Professor Andrii Rukkas from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. Both lectures will focus on key issues related to the understanding of the Second World War in Latvia and Ukraine. All students are welcome and encouraged to attend the event.){kind=link}