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On the occasion of the Day of Remembrance of Ukrainians who saved Jews during World War II, the Museum traditionally hosted the All-Ukrainian event “Ukrainian Saviours. Marathon of Stories.”

This is an annual meeting of the project team members. In 2018, an initiative was launched to systematize and popularize the study of the Holocaust in Ukraine. It’s worth noting that Ukraine ranks fourth in terms of the number of people honored by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations, which refers to those who saved Jews during the genocide. However, many stories remain unexplored, untold, and unheard. Researchers gather and verify information, learning about the heroes and their families.

Svitlana Datsenko, the Marathon curator and a researcher at the Museum, mentioned that over seven years, museum employees, along with supporters of the project, which include students from historical faculties of universities, historians, history teachers, journalists, and local historians, have gathered around 350 stories. These stories have shed light on almost 1,000 individuals—Ukrainian saviours and survivors.

Our current experience of living amid a new war imposes a different lens on studying the history of World War II, as noted by Anatoly Podolsky, director of the Ukrainian Center for Holocaust Studies, and Daniil Sytnyk, a graduate student at the Doctoral School of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.

During the Marathon, the main focus was on the Saviours—those honored with the prestigious title Righteous Among the Nations and those who went unrecognized. In Soviet times, the Holocaust was often denied as a tragedy affecting the Jewish community, and the act of saving even one person was deemed unworthy of attention. Nadiia Lazniuk, the daughter of the Righteous Among the Nations Vasyl and Maria Andrievsky, remembered how her father was often told, “No one asked you to do anything.” Tetiana Ohir, the daughter of Saviour Nina Sokhatska, and Tamara Khrushch, the daughter of Saviour Mefodii and Yevheniia Humeniuk, described how dramatic it was to search for and preserve family stories in the face of censorship and oblivion.

Svitlana, granddaughter of the Righteous Among the Nations, Natalia Kravchenko, has proven that salvation is a choice everyone can make. Faced with the enemy in 2014 near her native town of Bakhmut, she volunteered, became the core member of the Ukrainian Bakhmut movement, and is waiting for the soonest victory of our country to return to her home.

You can watch the event recording.  Learn more about the Saviours, or join the team on the Portraits.UA project website

Remember our shared history because it strengthens us to protect the future.