V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University (Official Site)

On May 9, Ukraine celebrates Day of Victory over Nazism in World War II. Its celebration is traditionally held with memorial and solemn actions of remembrance and reconciliation, laying flowers at the monuments and graves of the soldiers, honoring veterans. The official symbol of the holiday is the poppy, its author being Kharkiv designer Serhii Mishakin.

Nowadays, it is important to respect the feat of the war veterans, the participants of the Ukrainian Liberation Movement and the victims of Nazism, who bravely fought against and defeated Nazism in World War II (1939-1945).

Karazin University remembers the immortal feat of the student battalion troopers during the war. Karazin University museums have numerous exhibits and photographs, copies of documents, personal belongings, letters from the front addressed to the family and friends, newspaper articles. There stands the Monument to Student Battalion Troopers near Karazin University Main Building. These men were not professional soldiers but they struggled on the level with others and sacrificed all their strength and skills for the freedom of their people. Most of them were killed in the first months of the war, but they stood up to the Nazi invaders and gave the future generations the possibility of new achievements.

To mark the memorable days, Karazin University opened the exhibition presenting letters, household items, children’s clothes, school supplies, toys and photographs related to the fates of children in the time of the war. There took place the action Children of War (1941–1945): Fates and Memories during which the pupils of Kharkiv University Lycée recited excerpts from memoirs of Kharkivites whose childhood was in war time.

Karazin University also held a presentation of the video project “Five Stories of Childhood in Time of War (1941–1945)” the participants of which were the instructors of Karazin University who had survived the war Nataliia Bulankina, an associate professor of the Department of Biochemistry (School of Biology), Volodymyr Kalashnyk, a full professor of the Department of Ukrainian Language (School of Philology), Matvii Kim, a full professor of the Department of Economic Theory and Economic Management Methods (School of Economics), Lina Maievska, an associate professor of the Department of German and French Languages (School of Foreign Languages), Vadym Chebotarov, the Director of the Center for Pre-University Education.

Karazin University calls to cherish the history, honor the memory of the people who we owe our present to!