Dr. Yurii Kaparulin

Professional Background

Yurii Kaparulin is an associate professor in the Department of National, International Law, and Law Enforcement at Kherson State University, Ukraine, and a fellow at the Raoul Wallenberg Institute at the University of Michigan. He holds a PhD in history and a master’s degree in law. His research explores 20^th century Eastern European history, Holocaust and genocide studies, and human rights.

Dr. Kaparulin’s work has been published in academic journals including Holocaust and Modernity, The Ideology and Politics Journal, Colloquia Humanistica, City History, Culture, Society, Holocaust Studies: A Ukrainian Focus, Eastern European Holocaust Studies, and Ukraina Moderna, and has been referenced by BBC News Ukraine. He is currently completing his book manuscript, Between Soviet Modernization and the Holocaust: Jewish Agrarian Settlements in Southern Ukraine (1924–1948). He also co-directed the documentary film Kalinindorf (2020) and, since 2021, has been co-directing (Un)Known Holocaust.

Dr. Kaparulin has held postdoctoral fellowships at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, New Europe College, the Center for Holocaust Studies at the Leibniz Institute for Contemporary History in Munich, and the Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia (WCEE) at the University of Michigan International Institute.

Fellowship Research

While at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum as a Broadening Academia Initiative Hybrid Fellow, Yurii Kaparulin will conduct research on one of the lesser-known chapters of the Holocaust in Ukraine - the Kherson ghetto. By researching and publicly engaging with this history, he aims not only to help restore memory but also to foster awareness and recognition of local Jewish heritage in places where genocide occurred.

Additionally, from a Ukrainian perspective, the study of the Holocaust now unfolds in the shadow of renewed national trauma and violent conflict. This raises complex questions about how to research, discuss, and commemorate the Holocaust in a society once again affected by Russian aggression and war.

Fellowship Period: November 1, 2025 – April 30, 2026