Butkevych and Stus: Filling Oneself-with-One-Self - Instytut Pileckiego

Words have the power to save lives.

Butkevych and Stus: Filling Oneself-with-One-Self

Words have the power to save lives. Discover how renowned Ukrainian journalist and human rights activist Maksym Butkevych endured Russian captivity with the help of Vasyl Stus’s poetry.

March 10, 2025, 18:45

Registration: https://forms.gle/guHCxy8HD3PkwYMY7

Organizers: Pilecki-Institut Berlin and Vitsche Berlin 

This event is accompanying our "Stus" Exhibition 

Join us for a poignant conversation with Butkevych, who, after returning from captivity, reflects on how Stus’s poetry helped him withstand the hardships of imprisonment. Stus, who also spent many years in captivity, expressed the powerful belief that survival is made possible through human connection and the creation of meaning. Butkevych will share how Stus’s words became a source of faith and purpose during his own confinement, and how they inspired him to keep going.

Maksym Butkevych is a Ukrainian human rights activist and journalist. On June 21, 2022, he was captured by Russian soldiers during the war in Ukraine and held as a prisoner of war until his release on October 18, 2024. Throughout his captivity, Butkevych found strength in the poetry of Vasyl Stus, whose words became a source of faith, resilience, and meaning during his time in confinement.

In his own words, Butkevych recalls: "In captivity, I was helped by faith and the sense of purpose... I am who I am, and I can only unfold in others, as they unfold in me. We can survive only thanks to others, and only in a world that we have created to survive. From what we know at this moment, humans are the only biological beings capable not just of creation but of creating daily and constantly. We create material, valuable worlds. We create meanings. The universe, through our eyes, acquires meaning and significance..."

The term "Filling Oneself-with-One-Self" comes from Stus’s reflections on the idea of human survival and self-realization. Stus viewed human existence as one that requires constant self-creation and connection with others. For him, survival in captivity was not just about endurance but about "filling oneself" through self-awareness and through relationships with others, a process of mutual unfolding and creation of meaning. This profound idea speaks to how, even in the most dire circumstances, one can find strength and purpose by recognizing our interconnectedness and the importance of shared human experiences.

During this event, Butkevych will also read Stus's poetry, which he turned to for solace and strength during his time in captivity.