Забутий геноцид: як шведські шкільні підручники історії розповідають про Голодомор

Abstract

This article explores how Swedish school history textbooks address the famine-genocide of 1932–1933 in Ukraine. By analyzing how this historical event is represented in educational materials, the article aims to determine the extent to which the Holodomor is acknowledged, contextualized, and explained within the broader narrative of Soviet interwar history presented to Swedish students. The source material consists of textbooks used in Swedish schools, ranging from lower secondary to upper secondary education. 20 textbooks were reviewed, and interviews were conducted with six teachers and one author. It underscores the practical importance of accurately representing the Holodomor within history education, particularly in terms of the consequences of insufficient education about past genocides and crimes against humanity. The article highlights challenges within the Swedish education system, including curricular limitations, limited resources, and the prioritization of events like the Holocaust and the Gulag over the Holodomor, shedding light on how these factors could influence students’ understanding of historical events and the broader context of past atrocities. The article reveals that, while the Holodomor is mentioned in some literature, it is only briefly addressed, with the Gulag instead becoming symbolic of communism’s crimes against humanity. As one teacher suggested, there may be a geographical perspective at play, prompting more focus on events closer to home. A noticeable trend over time also emerges in school literature, with more recent publications being more likely to address the Holodomor using accurate terminology, while older works tend to avoid it. Additionally, there is a tendency to explain the Holodomor, when mentioned, as a result of poor economic planning (i.e., communism) rather than as a deliberate act driven by ethnic hatred toward Ukrainians within the framework of Russian imperialism. In fact, no Swedish schoolbooks clearly present the Holodomor as a genocide. Consequently, this report identifies three possible outcomes: 1) the Holodomor is not mentioned at all, 2) mass starvation is referenced but not as the Holodomor, or 3) the Holodomor is acknowledged but explained primarily as a result of forced collectivization in Soviet agriculture rather than an outcome of Russian imperialism or ethnic hatred aimed at eliminating Ukrainians as a people. Thus, a portrayal of the Holodomor as both an event in its own right and as genocide could not be demonstrated, nor was any such literature found. Keywords: History, Holodomor, Genocide Education, History Didactics, Soviet History, Ukraine, Sweden