The highest percentage of injuries and mortality from infectious diseases and exhaustion was observed among the Ostarbeiters. Most people died from tuberculosis, cardiovascular deficiency, tabes, industrial injuries, and typhoid. Valentyna Radchenko was killed in an explosion at a powder plant in Lichtenau. This is what her friend Maria Holina wrote to her parents in Shostka. “As soon as we got stuck behind the bars, everyone lost all the joy and became boring and harsh. As much as Valya was fun at home, that much she became sad here. How I tried to assure her, how much I tried to cheer her up, nothing worked. She always said to me, “We will never get out of here!” On 25/V-43 dear Valyusha did not return from her shift. On 29/V they were buried. Her fate was very cruel because she died on Tuesday, but on Friday she was supposed to be working in my village because I kept saying that she was my sister. Now they are bombing us heavily, it is very difficult to think about returning home.”
Maria Kovalenko also died in 1944 at another military plant in Güssen, which belonged to a branch of the Dynamit Köln AG near Magdeburg. A photo of Maria was saved by her sister Olena. Both sisters were born in Shostka. Olena returned there after the war and spent the rest of her life in her hometown.
The exposition also presents death certificates of the six men who worked at the Eibia GmbH powder factory located between the villages of Stäberberg and Libanau. The document says that these people were prisoners at a labor camp in Libenau where they were sent apparently for some minor wrongdoing or misconduct.
Workers of the Eibia GmbH powder factory from the Shostka region reported the deaths of their fellow villagers in their letters. Ivan Troyan wrote to his girlfriend Tanya Zhovtonozhko in the village of Lushniki, “We party here like at Garpyna’s, even better, only it’s bad that there are no guys: Prischiny, M. Khochenkov died along with others.” In a letter to her parents in the village of Lushniki, Natalia Andrushchenko also writes about the death of people from her home village in the Shtaerberg camp, “We all are still alive, only Tsarganiv Mishka died, Grisha Gochenkov, uncle Mitra Ulyana died.”
Such a high mortality rate in this camp was due to the poor conditions of life of its forced workers and the dangerous production of gunpowder. Over 2,500 women and men were killed at that enterprise during the war.
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- Death certificates for Andriy Deykalo (born in 1908 Shostka), is Ostarbeiter of the Eibia GmbH powder factory issued by the Liebenau Village Council (Lower Saxony). 1942
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- Death certificates Fedir Robotko (born in 1918, Klyshky), is Ostarbeiter of the Eibia GmbH powder factory issued by the Liebenau Village Council (Lower Saxony). 1942
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- Death certificates for Oleksiy Susol (born 1924 in Klyshky), Ostarbeiter of the Eibia GmbH powder factory issued by the Liebenau Village Council (Lower Saxony). 1942
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- Maria Holina, Valentyna Radchenko and Maria Kremenets. Photo made in Shostka, 1941 Three classmates were deported to Germany. Worked at a military plant in Lichtenau (Nordheim-Westphalia). On May 25, 1943, Valentine died in an explosion at the plant.
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- Letter from an Ostarbeiter Maria Holina from the village of Garmutzaksen, Witzenhausen district, to the parents of her deceased friend Valentyna Radchenko in Shostka. 1943
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- Letter from an Ostarbeiter Maria Holina to the parents of her deceased friend Valentyna Radchenko in Shostka. 1943 As soon as we got stuck behind the bars, everyone lost all the joy and became boring and harsh. As much as Valya was fun at home, that much she became sad here. How I tried to assure her, how much I tried to cheer her up, nothing worked. She always said to me, “We will never get out of here!” On 25/V-43 dear Valyusha did not return from her shift. On 29/V they were buried. Her fate was very cruel because she died on Tuesday, but on Friday she was supposed to be working in my village because I kept saying that she was my sister. Now they are bombing us heavily, it is very difficult to think about returning home.
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- Larysa Rusetska. Photo 1944 Born in 1924 in Shostka. In June 1942, along with sister Valentina was deported to Germany. Worked at the Helly Military Plant in Eschennerud. In 1945, after the liberation, married Dutch worker Gerard Dekok and moved with him to Tilburg; never returned home
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- Valentyna Mamoga (Rusetska) – in the center – with friends. Photo made in Shostka, 1939 In June 1942, along with sister Larysa was deported to work in Germany. Worked at the Helley Military Plant in Eschennerud. In 1945, returned to Shostka and worked as a dispatcher at a motor park
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- Olena Lanovenko (Kovalenko) (1st from the left, 2nd row) with her friends at the forced labor camp in Güssen. Photo December 1942 Born in Shostka in 1925. In June 1942, along with sister Maria was deported to Germany. Worked at a powder plant that belonged to a branch of Dynamite Cologne AG near Magdeburg. Returned to Shostka in the summer of 1945.
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- Olena Lanovenko (Kovalenko) (1st from the left, 2nd row) with her friends at the forced labor camp in Güssen. Photo December 1942 Born in Shostka in 1925. In June 1942, along with sister Maria was deported to Germany. Worked at a powder plant that belonged to a branch of Dynamite Cologne AG near Magdeburg. Returned to Shostka in the summer of 1945.
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- Maria Kovalenko. Photo 1944 Born in Shostka in 1923. In June 1942, along with sister Olena was deported to Germany. Worked in the city of Güssen, at a powder factory, which belonged to a branch of the Dynamite Cologne AG. Killed in an explosion at the factory in 1944.
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- Vira Gribovskaya (Khorokhordina). Photo [1942-1945] In 1942, along with sister Maria was deported to Germany. Worked at a powder factory in Güssen. In 1943, was injured while transporting ammunition. After medical treatment, was left to work in a bakery in Burg. Subsequently, arranged a transfer for her sister Maria from Lubeck as well.
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- Letter from Ostarbeiter Ivan Troyan from the Steyerberg camp to his girlfriend Tanya Zhovtonozhko in the village of Lushniki, Shostka district. 1943 We party here like at Garpyna’s, even better, only it’s bad that there are no guys: Prischiny, M. Khochenkov died along with others.
