WAR AND MEMORY | performative reading of war testimonies from Ukraine - Instytut Pileckiego

On Tuesday 23 August 2022 at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, we held the second performative reading of testimonies of Ukrainian witnesses gathered by the Lemkin Center.

At the initiative of the Pilecki Institute, Polish actors read out testimonies of the victims of Russian aggression collected at the Lemkin Center. The Center’s mission is to collect civilian eyewitness accounts and create an archive complied by scholars to retain evidence of crimes committed by Russian soldiers on Ukrainian territory.

The testimonies of eyewitnesses – among others from Mariupol, Irpin and the Kharkiv Oblast – were presented together with literary works specially chosen for the occasion and accompanied by live music. In addition, harrowing video accounts could be watched on screens in the foyer. The event served as a powerful display of the tragic fates of the victims of Russia’s aggression against sovereign Ukraine.

After the performance, director and scriptwriter Jakub Kiersikowski took to the stage to thank the artists:
Actors: Oliwia Adamowicz, Szczepan Kajfasz, Joanna Kwiatkowska-Zduń, Leszek Zduń
Music: Ksawery Wójciński
Stage design: Marta Baczewska-Ologele

The event was held on the European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism, marking the 83rd anniversary of the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact between the Soviet Union and Germany, the symbolic beginning of cooperation between the two totalitarian regimes that led to the deaths of millions during the Second World War. 23 August is also National Flag Day in Ukraine, with the blue and yellow colors symbolizing
the peace and wealth of Ukraine’s fertile land.

After the event, both guests and artists were invited for refreshments.