Ukrainians replenish the base of eyewitnesses of Holodomor in museum

This week we got an extremely valuable letter. To the Holodomor victims’ Memorial wrote Marchenko Leonard Trofimovich, teacher of History at school №31, Mariupol city.

He shared his childhood memories, which was marked by crime of Holodomor – the genocide that took away7 million lives of Ukrainian people. “In the spring of 1933 I was 5 years old. I lived with my aunt in Chyhyryn, Cherkasy region. The house was in city center, near a cathedral. Every day, when we were walking outside, I was watching as bullock-carts with corpses were carried out from the city. It crashed into my memory for a lifetime. The corpses were bare or half-dressed. They were scattered on the bullock-cart, a deep wagon, anyhow. Their arms and legs were hanging over the edge of the bullock-cart. And so every day the dead bodies were gathered around the city and taken out. I did not understand what it was, but it was very scary. Many years have passed, but I can accurately describe the cathedral, the house and a road down the hill, along which the corpses were taken away. Our people must always remember the tragedy of Holodomor. “ 

The witness of Holodomor also gave to the Museum his own poems, written in different periods under the influence of memories and understanding of consequences of genocide.

We are grateful to Leonard Trofimovich for his poetry and for possibility of exploring his memories and experiences of events which happened in1933. We wish him a long and healthy life in a peaceful Ukraine.

We remind that everyone can leave their stories and memories of their relatives about genocide-Holodomor for our museum and history and send them to the official address of the museum: [email protected] or send them using post office: 01601 Kyiv, Lavrska str. 3.

Museum also maintains a register of victims’ names killed by Holodomor, based on martyrology of National Book of Memory and testimonies of relatives of those who were killed. Get more information on http://memorialholodomor.org.ua/holodomor/victims-of-the-holodomor/