On the occasion of the International Museum Day, which is held on 18 May, the Museum of Civilian Voices of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation has gathered a collection of stories The Cultural Heritage of Ukraine: Stories of Its Rescue. In the stories, those who saved our past for the sake of the future described how it was. The collection is available at the link

With this collection, the Museum of Civilian Voices seeks to acknowledge the invaluable contribution of every worker of Ukrainian museums to the preservation of our history and culture, and to thank them for their work.

When the full-scale war broke out, these people were not saving themselves. Despite the threat to their lives, workers of Ukrainian museums made super-human efforts in order to save and evacuate the museum exhibits. They went to work, enduring the horrors of shelling and occupation. They hid valuable museum items. They carried dozens of buckets of water after incoming air strikes, shelling attacks, and fires. They cleared the rubble with their bare hands...

The international community also engaged in the rescue. To that end, the Committee of Museums of Ukraine was created, which brings together several dozen Ukrainian and Polish museums. Its coordinator is the Warsaw Rising Museum. This is how Jan Oldakowski, the director of the Museum, sees the post-war future of Ukrainian values:

“Once there will be a day when peace comes, and it will be clear that you fought in order to preserve these exhibits, documents, photos, which will show the development and history of the Ukrainian state and its people. The museum workers have a clear task – they will need to prepare and set up the exhibitions again. To show these exhibits, but not in the Ukrainian-Russian context, but as an expression of your own history. And first of all, the museums and media of a future free Ukraine must retell this history, as it will be shaping up your national myth, the most valuable thing — a treasure that future generations will retell in the next hundreds of years,” said Mr Oldakowski.

The Museum of Civilian Voices of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation is the world’s largest archive of stories from Ukrainian civilians who suffered from the war. The Museum’s collection now has more than 70,000 stories. Share your story on the Museum’s portal or via the toll-free hotline (800) 509 001.