On social media, many people reacted with horror to the news of the Ukrainian’s death.
Romanchenko was deported during World War II to four different Nazi camps: Buchenwald, Peenemünde, Dora and Bergen-Belsen. “Now he was killed by a bomb in his home in Kharkov. He was 96 years old,” tweeted a foundation established in memory of two concentration camps, the Buchenwald-Dora International Committee. “We are stunned.”
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On the website of the founding it says that Boris Romanchenko was born on January 20, 1926. More precisely, in the village of Bondari near the city of Sumy in northeastern Ukraine.
At the age of 16, in 1942, Romanchenko was deported to Dortmund, where he was forced to perform forced labour. When the Ukrainian tried to escape, he was sent to Buchenwald concentration camp in October 1943.
He then ended up in Peenemünde, where he had to help with the construction of the V2 rocket† Later in the war he ended up in the Mittelbau concentration camp and the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Miraculously he survived the war.
Called for world peace
Romanchenko was Vice-Chairman for Ukraine in the Buchenwald-Dora International Committee for many years. On April 12, 2015, he called for world peace in a speech. He can be seen in a photo below:
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horrible death
Romanchenko was killed last Friday in a bombing raid in Kharkov. The foundation speaks of a horrific death. The bomb that killed the 96-year-old destroyed several floors of the apartment complex where he lived.
“We mourn the loss of a good friend,” the foundation said. “We wish his son and granddaughter a lot of strength in these difficult times.”
The foundation is concerned about other concentration camp survivors remaining in Ukraine. An aid network has been set up to send medicines and food. Volunteers are also being asked to help shelter Holocaust survivors on the Ukrainian border.
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