A Russian strike in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv had killed a Ukrainian Holocaust survivor. The Buchenwald concentration camp memorial institute confirmed the death of the 96-year-old survivor, Borys Romanchenko.
The memorial said it was "stunned" to learn about Romanchenko's death, given his contributions to history and to Ukraine. Romanchenko had managed to survive four separate concentration camps during World War II. He was imprisoned at the Buchenwald, Peenemünde, Dora, and Bergen-Belsen camps during the war.
Romanchenko was liberated from the Buchenwald camp on April 11, 1945, by allied forces along with more than 21,000 other prisoners. U.S. historians have described the camp as the symbol of the cruelty of the German Nazi state. Thousands of people at the camp were intentionally starved, burned, beaten, and shot to death during the war.
After the war, Romanchenko worked with various organizations going after Nazi war criminals. He also became the vice-president of the Buchenwald-Dora International Committee. In 2012, Romanchenko was a guest speaker at an event commemorating the liberation of Buchenwald. During his speech, Romanchenko said he read an oath about creating a world of peace and freedom.
Romanchenko's granddaughter, Yulia Romanchenko, began to be concerned about his grandfather's well-being after she heard that Russians were shelling a residential district in Saltivka last week. She said she frantically tried to contact her grandfather's neighbors and anyone she knew from the area to check on him. One of the people she contacted then sent her a video of her grandfather's house completely burned to the ground.
Yulia said she wasn't able to immediately go to the area because of the curfew that was imposed in the city. She said that when she got to the area, she could no longer recognize his grandfather's home as it was completely destroyed.
Andriy Yermak, head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, commented on Romanchenko's death and slammed Russia over its so-called "operation of denazification." Yermak was referring to Russia's claims that its operations in Ukraine were designed to destroy Nazi elements, which it says were in control of the nation.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in a post on social media that Russia is guilty of committing an "unspeakable crime" for the killing of the holocaust survivor. He ended his post by stating that Romanchenko had survived Hitler but was murdered by Putin.
The city of Kharkiv in the northeastern part of Ukraine has been subject to days of heavy missile and rocket attacks since Russian troops moved into the country. Ukrainian officials said Kharkiv still remains under their control despite the persistent attacks.
