Over 100,000 residents of Ukraine could be Auschwitz prisoners – historian

23.01.2020 18:42

Ukrinform

Scientists suppose that more than 100,000 residents of Ukraine were prisoners at Auschwitz. The exact number is unknown since they were labelled as “Soviet” or “Russian” in the death camp.

“Auschwitz death camp is a horrible symbol of the Holocaust. Ukraine honours and commemorates its incredible sacrifices along with the entire world. According to Polish historians, 1.5 million people were imprisoned at Auschwitz – 1.1 million Jews, 140-150 thousand Poles and thousands of representatives of other nationalities, including French, Russians, Ukrainians, Hungarians, and 23,000 Roma," Deputy Director General of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in World War II Liubov Lehasova said at the presentation of the book Auschwitz Death Camp - Ukrainian Dimension, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

In 2008, Ukrainian scientists visited the concentration camp, where it turned out that part of the documents was missing.

“They were told in the Auschwitz archives that not all documents were kept because some records had been sent to Russia, Germany, and the US. Although the bulk of the documents remained at the Auschwitz thanks to survivors, who insisted on keeping the territory and this terrifying place as a reserve. We saw those questionnaires. The people from Ukraine were labelled as “Russian” or “Soviet” because it was stateless. Therefore, it is unknown whether we will be able to determine the number of Auschwitz victims and survivors,” she said.

At the same time, Lehasova noted: "According to some estimates of our scientists, more than 100,000 people who lived on the territory of Ukraine were prisoners at the Auschwitz death camp. They were Jews of Transcarpathian Ukraine – more than 90,000 people. In addition, according to historians, there were Ukrainians among 15,000 Soviet POWs imprisoned at Auschwitz."

She also added that the prisoners included ostarbeiters, underground workers, and Ukrainian nationalists who insisted on being considered and labelled as Ukrainians. There were six hundred of them. And so Ukrainian historians received from the Polish colleagues the names of those 600 representatives of Ukraine.

Lehasova stressed that Ukrainians showed their sacrifice and heroism during World War II and lost from 8 to 10 million people. The accurate number cannot be identified and a question arises today whether it will be established someday.

“The Ukrainians went through the horrors of World War II. Ukraine has its victims. And the world must know about them. That is why the book is entitled Auschwitz Death Camp - Ukrainian Dimension,” the historian emphasized.