This is not history any more. This is today’s reality.

For the first time, the exhibition from Ukraine “Bakhmut. The Faces of Genocide 1942 | 2022” is brought to the European Union. The exhibition, organised by the National Historical Memorial Reserve “Babyn Yar,” presents a retrospective of the tragedies of Bakhmut, past and present, and reveals the horrific picture of a genocide with the same face: a totalitarian regime with an ideology of hatred.

The exhibition will be on display at Kaunas Ninth Fort Museum (Žemaičių pl. 73, Kaunas) from August 23 to October 29 this year.

The exhibition will symbolically open on the eve of Ukraine’s Independence Day on August 23, 2024 (Friday) at 11:00 a.m., also commemorating the European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism and the Baltic Way Day.

PROGRAMME of the opening event

• 11:00 am. Welcome speech
• 11:20 am. Presentation of the exhibition (with the participation of the exhibition authors)
• 11:40 am. Musical works performed by Viktor Rekalo, cellist of the State Vilnius Quartet (Lithuania) and Kseniia Kosarieva, first violin of the Prime Orchestra (Kharkiv, Ukraine)
• 12:10 pm. Independent visit of the exhibition

The opening event is free of charge; it will be held in Lithuanian and English.

The event is open to the public and will be filmed and photographed. By attending the event, you agree to be seen in the event photos and videos and are informed that these photos and videos may be made public.

About the exhibition

“Bakhmut. The Faces of Genocide 1942 | 2022” aims to draw parallels between the tragedy of the Holocaust in 1942, when over 3,000 innocent civilians, mostly Jews, were murdered in Bakhmut, and the deliberate destruction of the city by the Russian occupiers in 2022-2023. The documents and photographs from the collections of Bakhmut Museum of Local History provide an insight into the scale of Nazi crimes in 1942 and a detailed chronology of the historical events, while the photographs taken by the Association of Professional Photographers of Ukraine help us to understand the tragic historical facts and serve as a reminder of the importance of humanity and memory.

The suppression of human rights, the destruction of personality and the preservation of memory are symbolised by the video and artistic installations by Mykhailo Alekseenko. The destruction of the infrastructure of Bakhmut over the past two years and what the local population has had to endure are revealed in the works of renowned documentary photographers Kostyantyn and Vlada Liberov, Sergey Korovayny, Andriy Dubchak and George Ivanchenko, as well as in the films of Clemens von Wedemeyer. The exhibition becomes a platform for discussion between scholars, artists and public figures, which promotes change in society and in the memory culture.

More about the exhibition.

The exhibition can be visited with a museum visitor’s ticket (price for adults – EUR 8; discounts can be applied).

Attention! The information presented in the exhibition may have an adverse effect on minors.

^{Organisers of the exhibition: National Historical Memorial Reserve “Babyn Yar” and Kaunas Ninth Fort Museum}

^{Partners: Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania, Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, NGO Living memory and Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers}

^{Information partners: Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union, Kauno diena, Kaunas IN, Lietuvos geležinkeliai, Gijota, Forum Cinemas, 2GO, OWEXX, Keliauk Lietuvoje, čempijon.lt, Media traffic and Clear Chanel}