Start of Main Content
Upcoming Events Calendar

Victimized Twice: Holocaust Survivors in Ukraine

Virtual Event
Vanda Vasil’eva (later Vanda Semyonovna Ob’edkova) with her parents, Maria and Semen, in Mariupol in 1938. USC Shoah Foundation

Vanda Vasil’eva (later Vanda Semyonovna Ob’edkova) with her parents, Maria and Semen, in Mariupol in 1938. USC Shoah Foundation

Vanda Vasil’eva and her mother, Maria, hid when the Nazis rounded up and killed thousands of Jews in Mariupol. Seven months later, 11-year-old Vanda evaded the Nazis again, crouching in lilac bushes in her backyard. But the Nazis discovered and eventually murdered her mother.

After surviving the Holocaust, Vanda died at 91, cowering in a basement in Mariupol, hiding from Russia’s deadly siege. Join us one year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to discuss how today’s war has shattered the lives of Ukraine’s Holocaust survivors.

Guest
Rebecca Liss, Contributing Producer, Retro Report

Host
Dr. Edna Friedberg, Historian, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Watch live at facebook.com/holocaustmuseum. You do not need a Facebook account to view our program. After the live broadcast, the recording will be available to watch on demand on the Museum’s Facebook and YouTube pages.

Related

  • How the War in Ukraine is Shaped by Its Past

    Today, the Ukrainian people are under attack. The story of their nation is forever linked to the 1.5 million Jews who were killed in the region during the Holocaust and millions of other Ukrainian civilians who died in the war. Russian President Vladimir Putin has twisted that history to justify an invasion, falsely claiming to be waging war against Nazism and genocide. Learn the history of this land and people, including Holocaust survivors who are under threat once again.

    Learn More
  • The Holocaust in Ukraine

    On the eve of the Nazi invasion in 1941, the territory of Ukraine in its current, internationally recognized borders was home to one of the largest Jewish populations in Europe. The fate of those Jews depended on many factors, including the local occupying authority and whether they were among the very few evacuated to the interior of the Soviet Union ahead of the invading forces. Learn more about the history of the Holocaust in Ukraine.

    Learn More
  • Curator Discusses Rings Found Near Mass Gravesite in Ukraine

    Archivist Rebecca Erbelding shares how five rings found near a mass gravesite in Busk, Ukraine, came to the Museum, as well as their significance in the record of the Holocaust. The rings were donated by Father Patrick Desbois, who is trying to locate every mass grave site in Ukraine where Jews were killed during the Holocaust.

    Learn More