The inaugural laureate of the EAJC Award shared the stories of Holocaust children

The International Public Organization of Jews-Former Ghetto and Nazi Concentration Camp Prisoners has been awarded the First Prize of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress "Project of the Year."

"It is a great honor for us to make our modest contribution to the crucial activities of the organization of former prisoners, which, under the steadfast leadership of Oleg Efimovich Mortkovich, does everything possible for the medical and socio-psychological support of former prisoners, as well as for preserving and transmitting the living memory of the Holocaust to the younger generation," said Dr. Michael Mirilashvili, President of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress.

The "Project of the Year" award was established during the recent General Assembly of the EAJC in Kyiv, with the aim of encouraging the most prominent and successful projects of the EAJC and shaping high standards of activity within the Jewish communities of the Euro-Asian region.

Oleg Efimovich Mortkovich, head of the International Public Organization of Jews-Former Ghetto and Nazi Concentration Camp Prisoners, spoke to us about the Jewish children who miraculously survived the Holocaust, and about the vital work the organization performs. The interview was conducted by Yulia Vagapova.

Oleg Efimovich, please tell us how the organization was founded? How did it all begin? 

The fact is that until 1990, the history of the Holocaust was entirely silenced in the post-Soviet space. When asked about the Catastrophe, my grandmother would always reply, "it is better for you not to know about this." This was the position shared by the majority. Consequently, during the "thaw," when people ceased to remain silent, it turned out that a colossal amount of information and facts had been lost. We are still dealing with these consequences in the present day.

Back then, in 1991, a group of people decided to gather everyone who had been in ghettos or concentration camps as young children in order to protect their interests, rights, and lives. Thus began the operations of the Moscow Public Organization of Former Minor Ghetto and Concentration Camp Prisoners.

As is common, it was difficult at first: without official status or any funding, we existed solely on enthusiasm and faith in people. Subsequently, we gained recognition from numerous public organizations, because each of us possesses not just a difficult fate, but a unique story—preserved memory and knowledge that must be safeguarded and passed on.

Could you share one of these stories?

As I have already mentioned, every story is unique. Yet, what united all these people was that they survived by pure chance. The fascists targeted children first, aiming to destroy the future of the nation. During those years, 1.5 million children were murdered, tortured, and shot. Among our prisoners were those subjected to medical experiments, while some were tortured in front of their mothers.

The stories are countless. For instance, we have a member who is the only one who was held in a German prison. His mother did not look Jewish—she was a blonde with blue eyes—and she had connections with the partisans. The Germans captured her along with her son, imprisoned them, and tortured her to extract information about her associates. The young woman was suspended from the ceiling and her breasts were mutilated, but she refused to speak, only cursing loudly and profusely. The Germans concluded that a Jewish woman could not curse in such a manner and released them both. That is how they survived.

Another member of ours was only five years old during the war. He remembers his mother and sister being led away to be shot. Unable to comprehend what was happening, the small boy began to cry out for his mother. The people around him covered him with their bodies to keep him silent. He watched his mother and sister fall dead into the pit.

Many individuals hid in cellars during the Holocaust, sheltered by local non-Jewish residents. Among our members, one spent almost the entire war in such a hiding place with his mother and sister. One day, German soldiers entered the house. Distressed by the loud footsteps and overcome by fear, the young girl began to cry. The mother covered her with a pillow to prevent her cries from betraying them. Once the soldiers departed, our member looked at his sister, finding her body already lifeless and dark.

We have a female member who recently turned 85. Her mother, brothers, and sisters were shot before her eyes. Her grandfather threw her into the pit first. At night, she crawled out of the pit covered in blood, walked two kilometers, only to be captured and sent to a concentration camp—the only camp explicitly designated as a death camp. When the Red Army arrived to liberate it, only 9 people remained alive, including our member. She was subsequently placed in an orphanage, facing starvation, as there was neither food nor clothing after the war. People made garments out of potato sacks, belted them, and wore them.

How many former prisoners does the organization support? How is assistance administered?

Currently, we have 170 members; last year alone, 20 passed away. Our former prisoners are scattered across various countries, though the majority reside in Israel. Apart from Russia, there are members in Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, and the United States. It must be noted that our organization is unique in its composition, resembling a true academy of sciences, featuring state prize laureates, renowned playwrights and directors, and distinguished doctors. Despite the horrors they endured, the endless postwar orphanages, hunger, and loneliness, these individuals managed not only to reintegrate into society but to achieve great things, realize their potential, and become highly respected citizens.

Regarding assistance, in addition to medical care, we strive to combat their primary issue—loneliness. We maintain a reliable office in Moscow. We organize Jewish holidays, set tables, and invite musicians. We receive many guests, including representatives from the government and the State Duma. Our events are always very lively; those who are able, dance. Through this, they can detach from their problems and thoughts, if only temporarily, forgetting what they had to endure for a few hours.

What challenges does your organization currently face? What support do you receive?

The most significant challenge and our primary task is the preservation of memory. As our numbers dwindle, assertions emerge claiming that the Holocaust never occurred, as if we fabricated it all. Books and films will remain, of course, but when young people engage directly with those who survived the Catastrophe, it fosters a completely different attitude.

We hold meetings with the Russian Union of Jewish Students, where our members interact with the younger generation. Recently, we visited a Jewish school where one of our members spoke to an audience of about 50 people. Half of them suddenly got up and left because they could not stop crying. Afterwards, a teacher approached me and confessed she had never realized just how terrifying it actually was.

Being a former prisoner myself, I feel deep empathy for what they endured. Younger generations, however, do not always understand the behavior of our members. For example, they wonder why elderly people pocket a few pastries or other food after every event. This does not stem from a lack of manners; rather, after experiencing horror and starvation, this fear that food might run out becomes a permanent part of who you are.

For instance, we have members of the New York Academy of Sciences who can afford anything they desire. One of them was in the Minsk ghetto, and the experiences he went through defy description. It reached a point where every cell in his body screamed for bread. He would crawl under barbed wire in search of any piece of food. During one of these excursions, our member found a frozen potato. He began to eat it slowly, and he noted that he had never tasted anything more delicious in his life, neither before nor since. That frozen potato brought a sense of pure joy to his body, as if music were playing inside him.

The second major issue is the lack of funding. Funds are allocated, of course, but while Western organizations receive grants and subsidies, we do not have such opportunities. We receive significant assistance from the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress and through my personal connections in Moscow, especially when there is a need to hospitalize someone. We have virtually no volunteers, but this is not because people are unwilling to help. Our members are naturally highly distrustful due to their past; if they do not know a volunteer personally, they will certainly not let them into their homes.

Oleg Efimovich, you are a former prisoner with a unique story yourself. How did you manage to escape?

I have been told that my story is one of a kind from the Holocaust years. My father was a physician, and my mother was a ballet dancer. In 1937, my father began facing difficulties, and my grandfather, who managed the estate of Count Potocki in the town of Dashev, Vinnitsa region, advised my parents to move there, assuming they would be safe.

However, when the war broke out, my father was conscripted, and the Germans occupied the town. My mother joined a partisan detachment as a translator, leaving me with her friend. Soon, arson began, and people were being killed in the streets. Terrified, the friend left me in a field. I lay there for three days until a shepherd found me by chance. He brought me to a nearby village. On the second day, a gendarme who was connected to the partisans and knew my father well arrived. My father had once saved the gendarme's mother. He placed me in the care of a local woman who Hid me in a pit, where I spent two and a half years. In 1945, my grandmother found me, but I was unable to speak or walk at the time.

I began searching for my past in 2010. It was then that I discovered my father's handwritten biography, as well as a certificate from 1945 stating: "Issued to Natalya Fyodorovna Bondar to certify that she is raising the son of Dr. Mortkovich, who was shot by the German-Fascist invaders for participating in a partisan detachment."

I traveled to my birthplace hoping to erect a monument to my parents and to locate Natalya Bondar. I was shown a house where a man lived who had known her; he turned out to be the very shepherd who had saved me back then. In Dashev, I discovered a diary of a local doctor, which read: "During arrest and resistance, my best friend Mortkovich was tortured and shot." My father is buried in the same mass grave where the monument to the victims of World War II currently stands in Dashev. My mother was also tortured and shot; she was only 24 years old. Natalya Bondar was subsequently recognized as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem.

I strive to do everything within my power for our former prisoners: securing the best doctors and the best hospital rooms. My grandmother always said, "do good to a person and throw it into the river." I did not understand the meaning of this before, but now I do. This is how I live, ensuring that people who endured all that horror, hunger, and fear can feel human, valued, and loved.