Samara Pearce about her great-grandfather and his historical photos from Kharkiv in 1933
How did the Austrian engineer Alexander Wienerberger, who captured the genocide of Ukrainians in Kharkiv in 1933, appear in the USSR? How did he manage to take photos through Soviet border guards in Europe?
On February 7, 2018, Samara Pearce talked about these and other moments in the biography of A. Wienerberger at the National Museum “Holodomor Victims Memorial.” She is a great-granddaughter of the engineer who worked in one of the factories of Kharkiv in the 1930s. In 2012, she recorded an interview with Grandma Lily, Alexander’s daughter, and shared the story about her fate. For Samara, it became the primary catalyst for finding information on the Holodomor, travelling to Kharkiv and presenting its Masks of Holodomor. Also, her grandmother handed Samara a collection of photographs from Kharkiv in 1933 and a “Leica” camera that belonged to Alexander. Today, part of almost only photographs serving as evidence of Soviet genocide committed by the Soviets in 1932-1933 is stored in the Archives of the Archdiocese of Vienna in the collection of Cardinal Theodor Innitzer. Another part belongs to the Pearce family in the United Kingdom.
Alexander Wienerberger’s photographs are well-known both in Ukraine and around the world. However, there is not enough information about the author himself. Alexander was an engineer and specialised in explosives. His knowledge of Chemistry helped him, his family and factory workers to survive in the terrible conditions of the USSR during the epidemic of cholera and the spread of lice. Because of his attempts at commercial activity and anti-communist views, he was constantly under the supervision of punitive units. Feeling the danger, in 1934, the family of Wienerberger moved to Salzburg. In 1939, Alexander published his book “Hard times” with photographs of the Holodomor years. The original of memoirs is on the personal Samara Pearce’s website.
Samara said that she continued working on preserving the memory of her great-grandfather, whose life story is so crucial to Ukraine, and she also plans to publish Alexander’s personal diary covering the period of his residence in Russia / the USSR from 1915 to 1934 years.
Samara is well aware of Russia’s war against Ukraine today and has a clear understanding of the war crimes against the Ukrainian people. She says it gives a fatal sense of reoccurring the story that her grandfather saw personally – the genocide of Ukrainians. Because of this, she intends to implement another photo project, the funds raised from which will be transferred to the Ukrainian army.
We invite everyone to the Holodomor Victims Memorial to view a part of Samara Pearce’s photographic project “Masks of Holodomor.” The photo exhibition will be on display until February 26, 2018.