Dr. Karel Berkhoff
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Biography
Karel Berkhoff is a senior researcher and, since 2025, professor by special appointment of 20th-century Ukrainian history, with a particular focus on persecution, at Leiden University's Faculty of Humanities. He is also a historian of Eastern Europe, particularly Ukraine and the Soviet Union, and the Holocaust. His research focuses on the Holocaust in Kiev, mainly the Babi Yar massacre of September 1941.
His interest in the history of Ukraine began when he heard about the Great Famine of 1933. The Holocaust became his second fascination, after meeting survivors and reading memoirs. Berkhoff has academic degrees from Amsterdam, Harvard and (PhD) Toronto.
In his capacity as professor by special appointment, Berkhoff focuses on the recent history of war, violence, and persecution in Ukraine and its neighboring countries, placed in a broader European context. The chair, established in collaboration with the KNAW, provides an opportunity to investigate how taboos and censorship have influenced historiography and encourages international collaboration, new insights, and education on these themes.
He publishes mainly in English. The list includes two monographs published by Harvard University Press: Harvest of despair: Life and Death in Ukraine under Nazi Rule (also published in Ukrainian) and Motherland in Danger: Soviet Propaganda during World War II. Memberships include the admissions committee for the Saul Kagan Fellowships in Advanced Holocaust Studies and the editorial board of Yad Vashem Studies. He was also Chief Historian of a Holocaust memorial centre in Kiev for three years.