Emotions, trauma, and actors' lives vs. objectivity in history writing: Is a compromise possible?

Recent history is generally easier to document because of the relative abundance of records when compared with the medieval and even more ancient periods. However, this is only partly true for twentieth‐century Ukrainian history, where the postcolonial and posttotalitarian past has resulted in a dearth of twentieth‐century sources, a fact often underestimated by researchers. Therefore, writing about contemporary Ukrainian history relies more heavily on oral histories and memoirs. Personal testimonies from ordinary witnesses—rather than officials—raise important questions about the emotions of historical actors and their representation in historiography. This essay reflects my personal challenges in writing about twentieth‐ and twenty‐first‐century Ukrainian history, particularly in my focus on major events such as WWII, the Holodomor, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. I review the methodologies of researchers studying collectivization and famine in Ukraine and advocate for a greater use of personal sources, as such engagement can provide deeper insight into these historical tragedies in light of the current ongoing war Russia is waging against Ukraine and thus help the narrative to move beyond the dominant Kremlin's neo‐imperial perspective.