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Signpost at the memorial complex Maly Trostenets (photo: Anne-Lise Bobeldijk, September 2017)
The history and memory of Maly Trostenets, 1939-2010s
Tracing narratives of victimhood in the age of transitional justice
Between 1942 and 1944, the former kolkhoz Maly Trostenets and two nearby forests just outside Minsk were used by the Nazis to murder large groups of people. Among them were Western- and Central European Jews, Belarusian Jews, partisans, Soviet prisoners of war and other local civilians. The former kolkhoz was used as a forced labour camp. In this research project both the history and memory of Maly Trostenets will be scrutinized.
The central focus of this research project is to find out what exactly happened in Maly Trostenets and how the history of this site has been written. By analysing personal histories and broader historical developments and by bringing together contemporary sources, personal documents and postwar sources, the various narratives that have emerged around this site will be scrutinized.
Part of the project Accessing Campscapes: Inclusive Strategies for Using European Conflicted Heritage (iC-ACCESS), and financed by the ERANET-HERA-JRP Uses of the Past call (2016-2019).