This guide explores two archives from Ukraine, where the very institutions tasked with safeguarding the historical record are under threat of destruction. From the Central State Archive at Kiev and the State Historical Archive of Lviv, Gale has digitized two collections that document the traditions, cultural values, society, and religious beliefs of ethnic groups in eastern Europe, especially the Jewish communities.

Two New Ukrainian Collections

The Ukrainian Archives: Road to Palestine: Zionist Movements in Lviv, 1890-1939 collection depicts a community – the Jewish population of Lviv – that experienced tremendous transformations as political forces shifted and territorial boundaries changed. The struggles and triumphs of the community are preserved in the correspondence, reports, and newsletters of the collection.

Cultural Policies and Plunder of the Third Reich in Occupied Europe: Files of the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg, Kiev, Ukraine, 1941-1944 tells the story of marginalized populations from the perspective of the oppressor. The papers of the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg reveal the artifacts of an educated society, flourishing with art, culture, literature, religion, and science, that was tragically eliminated as enemies of National Socialism.

Both collections provide a valuable record of a turbulent time period in European history during which empires and nations rose and fell, borders changed, and ethnic groups were subjected to threats to their way of life, and upheaval of their homes and homelands. In many cases, they even faced deportation and genocide at the hands of occupying powers.

These histories are important as a testament to social change and conflict, and they serve as a record lest we forget.

There is a grim parallel in the historical subject and makeup of these collections to what is currently happening in the war in Ukraine: communities sundered by war and persecution, cultural heritage under threat of seizure or destruction, property occupied or looted, a regime seeking to enforce its will upon a country and its people.

Archives Unbound presents topically-focused digital collections of historical documents. A multi-disciplinary resource, collections cover a broad range of topics from the Middle Ages forward-from Witchcraft to World War II to twentieth-century political history. Particular strengths include U.S. foreign policy; U.S. civil rights; global affairs and colonial studies; and modern history. Collections are chosen based on requests from scholars, archivists, and students.
With Archives Unbound, users can engage with primary sources by selecting the Explore Topics list, where they can browse available collections within a pre-filtered research topic, and other advanced search features including a wide range of search indexes, term frequency, and term clusters in order to uncover the research path that best suits the user’s needs.

Philip Virta is a member of the Gale Primary Sources publishing team and is the coordinating editor of Disabilities in Society, the Archives of Sexuality and Gender program, the archive Power to the People, and the Archives Unbound program. To read his original blog post on these new collections, visit the Gale Review here.