On 2 April, the War Childhood Museum opened the exhibition “Books That Accompany Through War” at the Cultural and Artistic Center named after Ivan Mykolaichuk in Chernivtsi. The exhibition highlights children’s experiences of war through one of the most personal items they carried with them: books.
The exhibition is part of the War Childhood Museum project supported by Pro Peace, which documents and amplifies children’s lived experiences of war across Ukraine.
As families fled shelling and evacuation, children often took with them what mattered most. Among these items were school textbooks, fairy tales, works of classical literature, and even the Constitution of Ukraine. Each book presented in the exhibition is tied to a personal story, offering insight into how children cope with fear, displacement, and uncertainty.
At the core of the exhibition are 15 stories of children and teenagers from different regions of Ukraine. These stories form part of a growing archive developed by the War Childhood Museum, which has been collecting children’s wartime experiences since 2018. Today, the archive includes more than 800 personal testimonies and over 1,400 objects, making it one of the most extensive collections of its kind in Ukraine.
“Children and teenagers have their own agency and their own way of understanding these events. They go through very personal experiences during the war, and it is important to bring these stories into the public space,” said Svitlana Osipchuk, Program Director of the War Childhood Museum in Ukraine
By focusing on books, the exhibition presents them not only as everyday objects but also as sources of emotional support. For some children, reading offered a sense of stability during evacuation from occupied territories. For others, it became a way to cope in refugee camps or moments of uncertainty.
Visitors describe the exhibition as both powerful and timely, providing a perspective on the war that often goes unnoticed. Through personal stories and objects, it allows audiences to see the conflict through the eyes of children and better understand its human impact.
The exhibition will be open until 2 May. It is accompanied by a public program that includes discussions, shared readings, and opportunities for visitors to contribute by sharing the books that supported them through difficult times.