Between Memory and Stone - Interdisciplinary International Conference
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Between Memory and Stone - Interdisciplinary International Conference
Monday, October 19, 2026
Doors 09:15 · Starts 10:00 · Ends 20:00
Musikbrauerei Berlin, Greifswalder Str. 23A, 10405 Berlin
Registration is required: https://betweenmemoryandstone.com/conference/
About this event
The stones of the past — monuments, memorials, and the remnants of totalitarian rule — continue to shape how our societies remember, argue, and imagine the future. In a moment when historical narratives are increasingly weaponized through disinformation and nostalgia for totalitarianism, the question of how we work with difficult heritage has become a question of democratic resilience itself.
Between Memory and Stone brings together researchers, curators, educators, local politicians, lawyers, journalists, and civil society practitioners from Germany, Poland, and Ukraine to rethink how public history can foster pluralistic, value-based cultures of remembrance across borders. Together, we discuss what it means to confront, reinterpret, and transform contested legacies, and how transnational cooperation can help translate historical reflection into civic practice.
Should we reclaim Soviet history and memory as 'ours' — and if so, how, and can we distinguish between our societies' contribution to the colonial power structures within the system of Soviet domination, which was imposed primarily through Moscow's totalitarian coercion? How might we distinguish and evaluate the national cultural motifs and narratives that persist within, or emerge against, the shared Soviet heritage of Poland, Ukraine, and Germany?
At the same time, to what extent can Soviet heritage be conceptualized as a security concern, given Russia's ongoing instrumentalization of history and memory as tools of hybrid warfare? Should memory politics within EU territory accordingly be understood as a dimension of security policy, with the re-contextualization of Soviet heritage framed as a matter of collective self-protection?
The conference is organized by Vitsche e.V. together with the Pilecki Institute Berlin and Past / Future / Art.
Project funded by Auswärtiges Amt
Speakers
Speaker profiles will appear here once confirmed.
Programme
09:15–09:55
Doors Open & Registration
10:00–10:10
AV performance
Anna Ivchenko
10:15–10:45
Welcome Remarks
Intro by Yeva Yakubovska
Chargé d'Affaires a.i. Jan Tombiński
Ambassador of Ukraine to Germany Oleksii Makeiev (TBC)
Auswärtiges Amt representative (TBC)
Dr. Anna Kaminsky (Director of Bundesstiftung Aufarbeitung)
Dr. Kateryna Rietz-Rakul (Director of the Representative Office of the Ukrainian Institute in Germany)
10:50–11:05
Keynote #1: Whose Heritage and Whose Memory? Postcolonial Condition and Decolonial Possibility in Eastern and Central Europe
Prof. Yuliya Yurchuk
11:10–13:10
Panel #1 + Q&A: The Politics of Re-contextualization: Legal and Political Responsibility for Soviet War Memorials in Germany
Dr. Patrick Heinemann
Auswärtiges Amt representative
Dr. Anna Kaminsky
Dr. Stefanie Eisenhuth (TBC)
Moderator: Yeva Yakubovska
13:15–14:00
Lunch
14:00–14:10
Announcement of the upcoming StoryMap website and brochure
Kateryna Tarabukina
14:15–14:30
Keynote #2: Confronting Soviet Legacy: Memory Work in Ukraine
Prof. Dr. Oksana Dovgopolova (online)
14:35–14:50
Keynote #3: Transformations of Remembrance. How Poland works with the Communist period heritage
Dr. Jakub Szumski
14:55–16:25
Panel #2 + Q&A: Decommunization and Memory Work cases of Ukraine and Poland
Yevheniia Moliar
Dr. Jakub Szumski
Polina Baitsym (online)
Moderator: Hanna Radziejowska
16:25–16:45
Coffee break
16:45-17:00
Keynote #4. Geometry in the City: Monuments and Memory in Berlin
Dr. Paul Leworthy
17:05–17:20
Keynote #5: Coping with Soviet trauma: the Case of Lithuania
Prof. Danutė Gailienė
17:25–18:55
Panel #3 + Q&A: A Broader International Context of Rethinking Soviet Legacy
Dr. Paul Leworthy
Prof. Dr. Botakoz Kassymbekova (online)
Dr. Julie Deschepper
Moderator: Alex Bykov
18:55–19:05
Closing Remarks: Key Takeaways & Challenges.
Prof. Dr. Andrii Portnov
19:10–20:00
Drinks, Snacks & Networking
Monday, October 19, 2026
Doors 09:15 · Starts 10:00 · Ends 20:00
Musikbrauerei Berlin, Greifswalder Str. 23A, 10405 Berlin
Registration is required: https://betweenmemoryandstone.com/conference/
About this event
The stones of the past — monuments, memorials, and the remnants of totalitarian rule — continue to shape how our societies remember, argue, and imagine the future. In a moment when historical narratives are increasingly weaponized through disinformation and nostalgia for totalitarianism, the question of how we work with difficult heritage has become a question of democratic resilience itself.
Between Memory and Stone brings together researchers, curators, educators, local politicians, lawyers, journalists, and civil society practitioners from Germany, Poland, and Ukraine to rethink how public history can foster pluralistic, value-based cultures of remembrance across borders. Together, we discuss what it means to confront, reinterpret, and transform contested legacies, and how transnational cooperation can help translate historical reflection into civic practice.
Should we reclaim Soviet history and memory as 'ours' — and if so, how, and can we distinguish between our societies' contribution to the colonial power structures within the system of Soviet domination, which was imposed primarily through Moscow's totalitarian coercion? How might we distinguish and evaluate the national cultural motifs and narratives that persist within, or emerge against, the shared Soviet heritage of Poland, Ukraine, and Germany?
At the same time, to what extent can Soviet heritage be conceptualized as a security concern, given Russia's ongoing instrumentalization of history and memory as tools of hybrid warfare? Should memory politics within EU territory accordingly be understood as a dimension of security policy, with the re-contextualization of Soviet heritage framed as a matter of collective self-protection?
The conference is organized by Vitsche e.V. together with the Pilecki Institute Berlin and Past / Future / Art.
Project funded by Auswärtiges Amt
Speakers
Speaker profiles will appear here once confirmed.
Programme
09:15–09:55
Doors Open & Registration
10:00–10:10
AV performance
Anna Ivchenko
10:15–10:45
Welcome Remarks
Intro by Yeva Yakubovska
Chargé d'Affaires a.i. Jan Tombiński
Ambassador of Ukraine to Germany Oleksii Makeiev (TBC)
Auswärtiges Amt representative (TBC)
Dr. Anna Kaminsky (Director of Bundesstiftung Aufarbeitung)
Dr. Kateryna Rietz-Rakul (Director of the Representative Office of the Ukrainian Institute in Germany)
10:50–11:05
Keynote #1: Whose Heritage and Whose Memory? Postcolonial Condition and Decolonial Possibility in Eastern and Central Europe
Prof. Yuliya Yurchuk
11:10–13:10
Panel #1 + Q&A: The Politics of Re-contextualization: Legal and Political Responsibility for Soviet War Memorials in Germany
Dr. Patrick Heinemann
Auswärtiges Amt representative
Dr. Anna Kaminsky
Dr. Stefanie Eisenhuth (TBC)
Moderator: Yeva Yakubovska
13:15–14:00
Lunch
14:00–14:10
Announcement of the upcoming StoryMap website and brochure
Kateryna Tarabukina
14:15–14:30
Keynote #2: Confronting Soviet Legacy: Memory Work in Ukraine
Prof. Dr. Oksana Dovgopolova (online)
14:35–14:50
Keynote #3: Transformations of Remembrance. How Poland works with the Communist period heritage
Dr. Jakub Szumski
14:55–16:25
Panel #2 + Q&A: Decommunization and Memory Work cases of Ukraine and Poland
Yevheniia Moliar
Dr. Jakub Szumski
Polina Baitsym (online)
Moderator: Hanna Radziejowska
16:25–16:45
Coffee break
16:45-17:00
Keynote #4. Geometry in the City: Monuments and Memory in Berlin
Dr. Paul Leworthy
17:05–17:20
Keynote #5: Coping with Soviet trauma: the Case of Lithuania
Prof. Danutė Gailienė
17:25–18:55
Panel #3 + Q&A: A Broader International Context of Rethinking Soviet Legacy
Dr. Paul Leworthy
Prof. Dr. Botakoz Kassymbekova (online)
Dr. Julie Deschepper
Moderator: Alex Bykov
18:55–19:05
Closing Remarks: Key Takeaways & Challenges.
Prof. Dr. Andrii Portnov
19:10–20:00
Drinks, Snacks & Networking
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Where is it happening?
Musikbrauerei, Am Schweizer Garten 82, 10407 Berlin, Deutschland, Berlin, Germany
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
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Host or PublisherPilecki-Institut
