War & Archives at Risk
Preserving endangered records
Many of the archives we work with are endangered by war. Collections have been displaced, damaged, or lost, and many local holdings remain at risk due to conflict, displacement, and inadequate storage conditions. We work directly with local partners to digitise vulnerable materials, secure their digital preservation, and ensure long-term accessibility. This is not only a research project – it is also an intervention in preserving cultural and historical memory under conditions of crisis.
Active projects
This initiative, funded by the Arcadia Fund, the Keston Institute (UK), and the Keston Center at Baylor University, aims to safeguard and digitise endangered archival collections of religious minorities in Ukraine. These archives are under severe threat due to the ongoing war, facing risks of destruction, looting, and neglect.
They preserve unique historical records documenting the experiences of religious communities across some of the most turbulent periods of Ukraine’s 20th-century history. The collections include Soviet-era surveillance and persecution files, rare manuscripts, samizdat materials from dissenting religious movements, photographs, religious folk art, and personal artefacts – such as belongings of believers imprisoned in the Gulag – as well as memoirs and correspondence.
Some of these archives have already suffered damage, including during the occupation of Bucha in 2022. As restoration efforts continue, digitisation is essential to ensure their preservation and long-term accessibility.
Completed projects
The Bucha Adventist Historical Archive-Museum holds one of the richest collections of religious ephemera in Ukraine, and possibly globally, spanning the 17th to 20th centuries. The collection includes samizdat publications, photographs, manuscripts, folk art, and religious maps from Crimea (now under Russian occupation). These materials offer rare insights into everyday religious life and lesser-known forms of popular religious culture from the Imperial and Soviet periods.
Originally assembled in Crimea, the archive was relocated to Bucha after the Russian occupation of the peninsula in 2014. In 2022, during the occupation of Bucha, the collection was partially damaged, and all previously digitised copies were lost.
Preserving Archives at Risk
This archive has survived displacement, occupation, and destruction — more than once. In 2014, members of the community secretly smuggled the archive out of Crimea to prevent its seizure. It was relocated to Bucha, where it was housed at the Ukrainian Institute of Arts and Sciences and the Ukrainian Division of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church.
During the Russian occupation of Bucha in February–March 2022, the building was broken into and used by soldiers. When access was restored, the damage was extensive: windows and doors were destroyed, materials were stolen, and all digital storage devices were lost. Eight years of digitisation work disappeared without backup. Today, the archive remains at risk due to ongoing war damage, unstable infrastructure, and inadequate storage conditions.
With support from the British Library and Research Ireland, the HIDE team established an on-site digitisation unit in Ukraine. Local teams were trained in digitisation workflows, metadata creation, file management, and preservation practices. During the pilot phase, over 60,000 high-quality digital copies were created, ensuring that even if the physical materials are endangered, their historical record can endure.
This project is not only about digitisation — it is about protecting fragile histories in the face of war, and ensuring they are not lost.
Pilot Project: Digitising Endangered Archives in Bucha
This pilot project prepares the ground for large-scale digitisation through test digitisation of two critically endangered local archives in Bucha – an area profoundly affected by Russia’s military aggression in 2022.
The project focuses on the Bucha Adventist Historical Archive-Museum and the Makariv Archive, both originating in Soviet Ukraine and containing unique collections spanning from the 17th to the 21st century. Together, they offer complementary perspectives on everyday life under Soviet rule. The Makariv Archive reflects processes of Soviet modernisation from the viewpoint of local authorities, while the Adventist Archive documents dissident cultures and the history of one of the most active religious underground movements.
Both archives suffered damage during the occupation of Bucha in 2022. Today, they remain at risk and require urgent preservation.
These collections include records of Soviet political surveillance and repression, samizdat materials, state documents, photographs, folk art, and personal artefacts. They also contain materials relating to key historical moments such as the Chernobyl disaster, Ukraine’s independence, and the ongoing war, including photo and video documentation and eyewitness testimonies.
Focusing on local and minority community archives—often the custodians of fragile and underrepresented histories—the project contributes to broader national digitisation efforts. It is carried out in collaboration with the State Archival Service of Ukraine, the Archive of the Security Service of Ukraine, and the British Library.
The primary goal is to safeguard Ukraine’s cultural heritage in wartime, ensuring that these vital historical records are preserved and made accessible for future generations.
Gallery
