Borys Romanchenko

In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Timofiyovych and the family name is Romanchenko.

Borys Romanchenko
Борис Романченко
Born
Borys Tymofiyovych Romanchenko

(1926-01-20)20 January 1926
Bondari, Konotop Okruha, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Died18 March 2022(2022-03-18) (aged 96)
Kharkiv, Ukraine
Known forHolocaust survivor

Borys Tymofiyovych Romanchenko (Ukrainian: Борис Тимофійович Романченко; 20 January 1926 – 18 March 2022) was a Ukrainian public figure, activist and non-Jewish[1] Holocaust survivor who survived the Buchenwald, Dora and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps. He was killed by Russian airstrikes during the Battle of Kharkiv during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[2][1][3][4]

Biography

Romanchenko was born on 20 January 1926 in Sumy Oblast, Ukrainian SSR.[1]

At age 16, Romanchenko was captured and deported to Dortmund in Nazi Germany, where he had to perform forced labour in a coal mine. After a failed attempt to escape, he was interned at Buchenwald concentration camp. Later, he was forced to work in the production of V-2 rockets at Peenemünde Army Research Center. He was transferred to Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp and finally liberated at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. After returning home, he studied in Kharkiv.[2]

After surviving three Nazi concentration camps, Romanchenko actively shared his memories of those events and was involved in preserving the memory of tragedies caused by Nazis. He was vice-president (from Ukraine) of the International Committee of Former Prisoners of Buchenwald-Dora.[5] Romanchenko has also repeatedly visited the place of his imprisonment, noting that although it is difficult to stay there, it is a rare opportunity to see those who survived the camps.[6][7]

On 12 April 2015, he spoke at the site of the former Buchenwald concentration camp, citing from the Buchenwald Oath in Russian: "Наш идеал — построить новый мир мира и свободы" ("Our ideal is building a new world of peace and freedom").[5]

Death

He was living in the Saltivka area of Kharkiv at the time of his death on 18 March 2022.[1]

His granddaughter Yulia Romanchenko said that there was shelling in the area and when she went to his house it was completely burned down.[1] The Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba commented on Twitter: "Unspeakable crime. Survived Hitler, murdered by Putin."[1]

Commemoration

The City Council of Leipzig in Germany decided on 9 November 2022 to rename the street "Turmgutstraße" in the area Gohlis in Leipzig, where also the Consulate General of the Russian Federation resides, in honor to Romanchenko to "Boris-Romantschenko-Straße".[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Ukraine war: Holocaust survivor killed by Russian shelling in Kharkiv". BBC News. 21 March 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Trauer um Boris Romantschenko" (in German). Maximilian-Kolbe-Werk. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  3. ^ "KZ-Überlebender in Charkiw getötet" (in German). Tagesschau. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  4. ^ "Buchenwald-Überlebender durch Bomben in Charkiw getötet". mdr.de (in German). 21 March 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  5. ^ a b "Boris Romantschenko getötet". buchenwald.de (in German). Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  6. ^ Инна Жмуд (8 April 2010). "Три года в «Бухенвальде». История одного узника, испытавшего весь ужас фашистских концлагерей" (in Russian). Медиа группа «Объектив». Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  7. ^ "Харків'янин Борис Романченко відвідав Бухенвальд у річницю визволення в'язнів концтабору". city.kharkov.ua/ (in Ukrainian). Харківська міська рада. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  8. ^ "Straße vor Russischem Konsulat in Leipzig wird nach Ukrainer benannt". mdr.de (in German). 11 November 2022. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Borys Romanchenko.