On May 14, the opening of the exhibition “The Auschwitz Experience in the Art of Former Prisoners” took place at the Peter Kalnyshevsky Museum of History and Local Lore in Samar. The exhibition, which is a combination of works by people who managed to survive in the conditions of the Nazi “death factory,” is an artistic testimony to the tragic experience of the Second World War and the crimes of Nazism. The exhibition was created by the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum (Poland). It was translated and adapted especially for the Ukrainian audience by the researchers of our Museum.
It is symbolic that the opening took place on May 14, the Day of Ukrainians who saved Jews during World War II – a Memorial Day dedicated to people who showed the highest degree of humanity and came to the aid of the persecuted, despite direct danger to themselves and their loved ones. On this day, we honor all the Saviors and Righteous Among the Nations of the world.
According to statistics from the National Holocaust Memorial and Heroism of the Jewish People Yad Vashem (Jerusalem, Israel), as of January 1, 2024, 28,707 people had been honored with the title of “Righteous Among the Nations.” The Ukrainian list of Righteous Among the Nations includes 2,713 people, and Ukraine ranks 4th in terms of the number of those honored among 51 countries.
There are 70 Righteous Among the Nations according to the Ukrainian list and 4 more according to other national lists in the territory of Dnipropetrovsk region. These people took part in 39 rescues in 15 settlements of the region and saved the lives of 120 Jews. Among them, it is worth noting Mykhailo Zirchenko, who worked as an accountant and lived in the village of Blagodatne, Kamiansky district. Together with his wife, he saved 32 Jews (mostly women and children). In the city of Dnipropetrovsk (now Dnipro) alone, there were 28 people awarded this title, who together saved 51 Jews (the youngest was 1 year old at the time of the rescue). For a while, Jan Khodorovsky, recognized as a Righteous Among the Nations according to the Polish list, lived in Dnipropetrovsk. He saved 26 Lviv Jews here.
In 2018-2019, at the initiative of Museum “Jewish Memory and Holocaust in Ukraine” with the support of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional State Administration, 13 streets in 12 settlements of the region were named in honor of the local Righteous Among the Nations.
It is worth noting that due to the existence of unspoken taboos regarding the presentation of the history of the Holocaust during the Soviet period, the feat of rescue remained on the periphery of research and public attention. Thousands of rescuers died before their actions were recognized. That is why today a significant number of rescue stories remain little known, and their main participants are unknown to the public.
Yegor Vradi