The Krichev Zonal State Archives Institution held events as part of the «Young Archivist» pilot project and the «Archives for School» national campaign

On January 27, 2026, as part of the «Archives for School» national campaign and the «Young Archivist» national campaign, a thematic discussion was held for 4th grade «B» students at Krichev Secondary School No.1, dedicated to International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Exactly 81 years ago, on January 27, 1945, troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front liberated the prisoners of the Auschwitz death camp, located near the Polish town of Oswiecim. Victoria Kondratenko told the students about the history of the Holocaust, the concentration camps of Auschwitz, the Minsk Ghetto, and the Krichev prisoner of war camp.

One of the largest ghettos in all of Europe was the Minsk ghetto, established by the occupiers in July 1941. Its prisoners were forced to wear a yellow cloth circle on their clothing as a symbol of their nationality. The Minsk ghetto, along with all its prisoners, was finally liquidated in October 1943. Over the years of the ghetto’s existence, more than one hundred thousand of its prisoners fell victim to the Nazis, some of them murdered in Minsk itself, others in the Maly Trostenets death camp a few kilometers outside the city.

The leading archivist also presented archival materials confirming Nazi atrocities in the Krichev region, eyewitness accounts of the mass murder of Jews, and the burned village of Antonovka.

1-2. Victoria Kondratenko during a thematic discussion dedicated to International Holocaust Remembrance Day.