Category
Latest news

UNESCO Places Two More Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Sites Under Enhanced Protection

Authors
Mariam Matchavariani
Author
UNESCO Places Two More Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Sites Under Enhanced Protection
Memorial to the “Holocaust with bullets” at the Babyn Yar memorial site. (Source: Getty Images)

UNESCO has placed two additional Ukrainian cultural heritage sites under its enhanced protection. The Babyn Yar National Historical and Memorial Reserve and the Odesa Literary Museum are now included in the International List of Cultural Properties Under Enhanced Protection by UNESCO, as announced by Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications on December 12.

The Babyn Yar National Historical and Memorial Reserve is dedicated to preserving the memory of one of the largest mass executions of Jews by the SS  and German police units in World War II, which occurred there.

Soviet POWs being used by Germany to cover the mass grave at Babyn Yar, October 1, 1941. (Source: Wikipedia)
Soviet POWs being used by Germany to cover the mass grave at Babyn Yar, October 1, 1941. (Source: Wikipedia)
Luftwaffe aerial photograph of Babyn Yar, 1943. (Source: US Holocaust Memorial Museum)
Luftwaffe aerial photograph of Babyn Yar, 1943. (Source: US Holocaust Memorial Museum)

Between 1941 and 1943, the Nazis executed approximately 100,000 people at Babyn Yar, including nearly the entire Jewish community of Kyiv.

A boy attends a ceremony at the Babyn Yar memorial to mark the 83rd anniversary of the mass execution of Jews by the Nazis during World War II, in Kyiv on September 29, 2024. (Source: Getty Images)
A boy attends a ceremony at the Babyn Yar memorial to mark the 83rd anniversary of the mass execution of Jews by the Nazis during World War II, in Kyiv on September 29, 2024. (Source: Getty Images)
A view of the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial in Babyn Yar Park on March 2, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Source: Getty Images)
A view of the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial in Babyn Yar Park on March 2, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Source: Getty Images)

The Odesa Literary Museum houses books, manuscripts, and magazines of 19th and 20th century Odesa as well as the personal belongings and household items of writers of the era. The museum is located in an historic building built in the mid-19th century.

Exposition hall dedicated to literary life in Odesa in 1870-1890. (Source: Odesa Literary Museum)
Exposition hall dedicated to literary life in Odesa in 1870-1890. (Source: Odesa Literary Museum)
Exposition hall dedicated to literature in Odesa during World War II. (Source: Odesa Literary Museum)
Exposition hall dedicated to literature in Odesa during World War II. (Source: Odesa Literary Museum)

Also on UNESCO’s International List of Cultural Properties Under Enhanced Protection is Derzhprom—Kharkiv’s iconic landmark and historic heart of the city’s administration. Derzhprom was significantly damaged during Russian attacks on October 28 and November 8, 2024. A powerful explosion at the building’s seventh entrance, near the third floor, caused the collapse of the second and third floors, parts of the facade and roof, and damaged the structural elements of other sections of the building.

As of May 2024, UNESCO has verified 345 cultural sites in Ukraine damaged by Russia since the full-scale invasion began in 2022. This includes 127 religious sites, 153 historical/artistic buildings, 31 museums, 19 monuments, 14 libraries, and one archive.

See all

The Schutzstaffel, abbreviated as SS, was a major paramilitary organization in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe during World War II.