Borys Romanchenko
{{Short description|Ukrainian holocaust survivor (1926–2022)}}
{{Family name hatnote|Timofiyovych|Romanchenko|lang=Eastern Slavic}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Borys Romanchenko
|native_name={{Nobold|{{Lang|uk|Борис Романченко}}}}
| image = Borys_Romanchenko,_portrait_provided_by_Maximilian-Kolbe-Werk.jpg
| image_size =
| caption =
| alt =
| birth_name = Borys Tymofiyovych Romanchenko
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1926|1|20|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Bondari, Konotop Okruha, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
| death_date = {{death date and age|2022|3|18|1926|1|20|df=yes}}
| death_place = Kharkiv, Ukraine
| death_cause =
| resting_place =
| known_for = Holocaust survivor
}}
Borys Tymofiyovych Romanchenko ({{langx|uk|Борис Тимофійович Романченко}}; 20 January 1926 – 18 March 2022) was a Ukrainian public figure, activist and non-Jewish Holocaust survivor who survived the Buchenwald, Dora and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps. He was killed by Russian airstrikes during the Battle of Kharkiv during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.{{cite web|url=https://www.maximilian-kolbe-werk.de/unsere-arbeit/erinnern/nachruf-boris-romantschenko/ |title=Trauer um Boris Romantschenko |publisher=Maximilian-Kolbe-Werk|access-date=21 March 2022|lang=de}}{{cite news |title=Ukraine war: Holocaust survivor killed by Russian shelling in Kharkiv |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60826303 |date=21 March 2022 |publisher=BBC News}}{{cite web|title=KZ-Überlebender in Charkiw getötet|url=https://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/europa/romantschenko-buchenwald-charkiw-101.html|access-date=16 July 2023|publisher=Tagesschau|lang=de}}{{cite web|url=https://www.mdr.de/nachrichten/welt/osteuropa/politik/kz-buchenwald-ueberlebender-romantschenko-tot-anschlag-charkiw-ukraine-100.html |title=Buchenwald-Überlebender durch Bomben in Charkiw getötet |website=mdr.de |date=21 March 2022 |access-date=21 March 2022|lang=de}}
Biography
Romanchenko was born on 20 January 1926 in Sumy Oblast, Ukrainian SSR.
At age 16, Romanchenko was captured and deported to Dortmund in Nazi Germany, where he had to perform forced labour in a coal mine. After a failed attempt to escape, he was interned at Buchenwald concentration camp. Later, he was forced to work in the production of V-2 rockets at Peenemünde Army Research Center. He was transferred to Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp and finally liberated at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. After returning home, he studied in Kharkiv.
After surviving three Nazi concentration camps, Romanchenko actively shared his memories of those events and was involved in preserving the memory of tragedies caused by Nazis. He was vice-president (from Ukraine) of the International Committee of Former Prisoners of Buchenwald-Dora. Romanchenko has also repeatedly visited the place of his imprisonment, noting that although it is difficult to stay there, it is a rare opportunity to see those who survived the camps.{{Cite web|last=Инна Жмуд|url=http://archive.objectiv.tv/080410/39882.html|title=Три года в «Бухенвальде». История одного узника, испытавшего весь ужас фашистских концлагерей|publisher=Медиа группа «Объектив»|date=8 April 2010|accessdate=22 March 2022|language=ru}}{{Cite web|title=Харків'янин Борис Романченко відвідав Бухенвальд у річницю визволення в'язнів концтабору|url=http://www.city.kharkov.ua/uk/news/kharkivyanin-boris-romanchenko-vidvidav-bukhenvald-u-richnitsyu-vizvolennya-vyazniv-kontstaboru--38453.html|website=city.kharkov.ua/|accessdate=2022-03-22|language=uk|publisher=Харківська міська рада}}
On 12 April 2015, he spoke at the site of the former Buchenwald concentration camp, citing from the Buchenwald Oath in Russian: {{lang|ru|"Наш идеал — построить новый мир мира и свободы"}} ("Our ideal is building a new world of peace and freedom").{{cite web|url=https://www.buchenwald.de/en/47/date/2022/03/21/boris-romantschenko-getoetet/|title=Boris Romantschenko getötet |website=buchenwald.de |access-date=21 March 2022|lang=de}}
Death
He was living in the Saltivka area of Kharkiv at the time of his death on 18 March 2022.
His granddaughter Yulia Romanchenko said that there was shelling in the area and when she went to his house it was completely burned down.
The Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba commented on Twitter: "Unspeakable crime. Survived Hitler, murdered by Putin."
Commemoration
The City Council of Leipzig in Germany decided on 9 November 2022 to rename the street "Turmgutstraße" in the area Gohlis in Leipzig, where also the Consulate General of the Russian Federation resides, in honor to Romanchenko to "Boris-Romantschenko-Straße".{{cite web|title=Straße vor Russischem Konsulat in Leipzig wird nach Ukrainer benannt |url=https://www.mdr.de/nachrichten/sachsen/leipzig/boris-romantschenko-russisches-generalkonsulat-stadtrat-leipzig-umbenennung-strasse-100.html|website=mdr.de|date=11 November 2022|access-date=11 November 2022|lang=de}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons Category}}
{{Portal|Biography}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Romanchenko, Borys}}
Category:People from Sumy Oblast
Category:Buchenwald concentration camp survivors
Category:Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp survivors
Category:Deaths by Russian airstrikes during the Russian invasion of Ukraine
Category:Battle of Kharkiv (2022)
Category:Bergen-Belsen concentration camp survivors
Category:Soviet World War II forced labourers
Category:Civilians killed in the Russian invasion of Ukraine