Ukrainian Historian Dr Tetiana Boriak Talks About Her Research, the MSCA4Ukraine Fellowship, and Life in Lithuania

Ukrainian historian Dr Tetiana Boriak arrived in Lithuania with her two children while fleeing the war. In Ukraine, she researched the history of the Holodomor and continued her work after joining the Faculty of History at Vilnius University. This year, when the European Commission announced the results of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions for Ukraine (MSCA4Ukraine) call, it was revealed that Tetiana Boriak’s project "The Holodomor: Genocide, Trauma, and Denial Through the Prism of European Records of the 1930s” had received funding. Dr Boriak spoke in more detail about her historical research, the challenges she faces in Lithuania, and her new project.

The Holodomor as Her Field of Study

Dr Boriak focuses on modern history. Her postdoctoral project, her second dissertation, completed in Lithuania examined the oral history of the Holodomor. The Holodomor refers to the famine of 1932–1933, orchestrated by Stalin, which claimed the lives of at least 3.9 million Ukrainians, which equals around 13% of the country’s population.

“The Soviet Union denied the famine and punished any mention of the Holodomor, so people’s memories, including oral histories, are extremely valuable sources for researchers. My study focused on the specific features and development of oral accounts of the Holodomor. I also analysed Soviet Russian sources to understand the mechanisms of genocide, how the information war was conducted to deny the famine, the role of memory, and more,” the historian summarises.

The war has expanded her academic interests: “After the Russia–Ukraine war began, I started exploring Russia’s memory politics, how historical memory and the humanities are used in both domestic and foreign policy to legitimise imperialism.”

Life in Lithuania

Dr Boriak left Ukraine on 1 March 2022. “I was given the opportunity to join the Faculty of History at Vilnius University. That allowed me to complete my postdoctoral studies, publish a book, defend my second dissertation, and continue sharing and expanding my research,” she explains.

Shortly after her arrival, the European Union launched the MSCA4Ukraine support programme to help researchers forced to flee Ukraine due to the war. The programme enables scholars to continue their research and helps preserve Ukraine’s intellectual potential.

Living in Lithuania also brings challenges. The main one is access to sources: “Some materials, which are located in Ukraine, are still inaccessible. However, I am grateful that thanks to modern technologies and well-maintained library catalogues – particularly those available through Vilnius University – I still have access to enough sources for my research.”

Living between two countries is also a major challenge: “When you live here in Lithuania, and the rest of your family is in Ukraine under constant threat of bombings your whole life and any plans for the future suddenly disappear. You find yourself alone, raising your children in another country. Lithuanian is not an easy language, but I’m happy that I’ve managed to learn enough for everyday communication. My children are also making progress in speaking Lithuanian,” the historian shares.

A Broader Research Opportunity

Dr Boriak’s project "The Holodomor: Genocide, Trauma, and Denial Through the Prism of European Records of the 1930s” was selected for funding under the second MSCA4Ukraine call, which is administered by the Scholars at Risk initiative. This initiative began in 2018 before the full-scale invasion and since 2022 has been actively supporting Ukrainian scholars.

In 2024, over 550 applications were submitted, and only 49 projects received funding—including Dr Boriak’s, the only one implemented in Lithuania. Her project analyses the Holodomor through personal testimonies in search of new interpretations of this genocide, its denial, and its traumatic legacy. “My project is based on the premise that the Holodomor occurred due to multiple factors – Including colonial discourse about Ukraine and the lack of Western reaction. I want to examine it through the level of personal testimony, including professional, social, and cultural identities.”

The research focuses on Poland and Romania, which bordered Soviet Ukraine during the Holodomor: “Despite closed borders, institutions in those countries monitored the situation in the USSR and accepted illegal refugees. At that time, Czechoslovakia was also an important centre for Ukrainian refugees. These refugees shared information about the famine through various channels, thus forming a network of testimonies.”

Dr Boriak plans to publish her research findings in a book and scholarly articles. “I’m also considering creating an open-access database. But first, we need to answer the question, what did European leaders and societies know about the Holodomor, how did they react, and how did this overlooked atrocity pave the way for other crimes committed by the Soviet regime?”
This is the third MSCA4Ukraine-funded project at Vilnius University. In the first round of the programme, funding was awarded to Dr Kateryna Latysh (Faculty of Law) and Dr Oksana Bersirova (Faculty of Chemistry and Geosciences).