Protecting a Vulnerable Past: Preserving Local Archives in Bucha, Ukraine

The project's objective is to prepare for the digitization and conduct test digitization of two critically endangered local archives in Bucha, an area profoundly affected by Russia's military aggression against Ukraine in 2022. These archives, namely the Bucha Adventist Historical Archive-Museum and the Makariv Archive, originated in Ukraine during the Soviet era, housing unparalleled collections spanning from the 17th to the 21st century. They offer unique insights into everyday life in Soviet Ukraine, albeit from distinct perspectives. The Makariv Archive presents a narrative of Soviet modernization in the village from the viewpoint of local Soviet authorities, while the Adventist Historical Archive-Museum documents dissident cultures, chronicling the story of the most active Soviet-era religious underground movement. Both archives suffered partial damage during the occupation and massacre in Bucha, 2022. This initiative focuses on the archives of local and minority communities, often serving as custodians of unique historical memories from one of the most complex periods in Ukraine's 20th-21st-centuries history. These archives contain records of Soviet-era political surveillance and persecutions, samizdat materials produced by dissent movements, state documents, photographs, folk art, artifacts, as well as records related to the Chernobyl catastrophe, the declaration of Ukraine’s independence, and expanding collections documenting the ongoing war in Ukraine, including photo-video materials, eyewitness accounts. This project aims to contribute to broader digitization efforts in Ukraine, conducted collaboratively with the State Archival Service Ukraine, the Archive of the Security Service of Ukraine, and British Library. The primary goal is to safeguard Ukraine's cultural heritage amid the ongoing war, ensuring that the insights into Ukraine's history are preserved and accessible for future generations.