Devastating.
A 96-year-old man who survived four Nazi concentration camps was killed on Friday when Russian forces bombed his Ukrainian apartment building.
Boris Romantschenko, who lived through the Holocaust and spent years of his life working with survivors, died in Russia’s attacks on the city of Kharkiv when his apartment building was shelled.
The Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation announced his passing this week as they paid tribute to the former vice president of their International Committee for Holocaust survivors.
“Boris Romantschenko survived the concentration camps #Buchenwald, #Peenemünde, #Dora and #BergenBelsen,” the foundation wrote in a series of tweets.
Як ми дізналися від його близьких, наш друг Борис Романченко, який пережив нацистські табори #Buchenwald, #Peenemünde, #Dora і #BergenBelsen, загинув минулої п'ятниці в результаті вибуху бомби в своєму будинку в Харкові. Ми глибоко засмучений. pic.twitter.com/AmFbSwP9vf
— Stiftg. Gedenkstätten Buchenwald u. Mittelbau-Dora (@Buchenwald_Dora) March 21, 2022
“Now he has been killed by a bullet that hit his house in #Charkiv, #Ukraine. He was 96 years old. We are stunned.
“…According to his granddaughter, he lived in a high-rise building that was hit by a shell.”
The group added in a statement to People: “We are horrified by the violent death of Boris Romantschenko in the war in Ukraine. A bullet hit the multi-story building in which he lived. His apartment burned down.”
Mr Romantschenko was born in the Ukrainian village of Bondari 1926, according to the publication. In 1942, he was forced into a German labor camp, but after attempting to escape, he was sent to Buchenwald concentration camp at the beginning of 1943.
He was also interned in Peenemünde, Mittelbau-Dora and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps.
The Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation say Mr Romantschenko “worked intensively on the memory of Nazi crimes” for years, adding that they were “deeply saddened” by his death.
Russia has subjected Kharkiv to relentless bombings since President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of his neighbouring country, killing hundreds of civilians and destroying the city.
Holocaust memorial groups have condemned the invasion and accused Putin of twisting history for claiming that the invasion’s purpose is the “denazification” of Ukraine.
