“People died by the tens, hundreds and thousands. In their place always came new silent slaves, who labored for some food, a piece of bread.

They died and they were quietly buried. No one had a burial service for them, no family or friends paid their last respects. They did not even dig graves for them, but rather dug a communal trench. And they tossed the naked bodies in the snow and when spring came, wild animals tore apart their bones.

We, who managed to survive, mourned them. We believe that the Lord accepted the martyrs into the heavenly kingdom.

May all these peoples’ memory live on forever.”

Those who suffered in the Prison Camps and Gulags - and survived - have faced numerous difficulties in the years since. They thought of themselves, and were thought of by society, as second-class citizens. They had a harder time, both physically/materially and psychologically. We have worked to retore their sense of worth, and their dignity as human beings. These are our 'treasures'.

We are collecting their old family photographs, the few that have surrvied, in order to created a photo archive of them here on our website. Go to Photo Archive.

Now they have told their stories in a just released book -

Martyrs of Magadan - Stories of the Gulag

True first hand accounts of their lives and suffering.

Here are a couple of their stories in their own words...

Name: Olga Alekseievna Gureeva

Born: 25 October 1928

Where: Roshniv, Tismenitskii region, Ivano-Frankiv’ska Oblast’

Country: Ukraine

Arrested: 5 December 1945

Sentence: 25 years of hard labor plus 5 years loss of rights and exile

Released: March 1956

Rehabilitated: 1993

On December 5, 1945 a whole platoon of soldiers with two tanks rode into our village. Many people were killed that day. They came into our home and simply began pillaging. They took everything that was there – clothing, livestock, grain. They used physical force. Yes, they simply terrorized us. Up to that time I had studied for only three months at an institute. I had only just turned eighteen-years-old. My fifteen-year-old brother and I were taken away. The entire day they interrogated us. They took us in turn and tried to determine a connection with the partisans. During the investigation, I was severely beaten. Yes, they employed the most frightening physical tortures. Towards evening we were taken away to the oblast. They were afraid to remain in the village at night. My fifteen-year-old brother was also taken with me. He vanished. Continue...

Name: Anastasia Semenovna Lexnik

Born: 1 November 1928

Where: Lukva, Ivano-Frankovsk region

Country: Ukraine

Arrested: 1 June 1947

Sentence: 10 years hard labor

Released: beginning of 1955

We are pureblooded Ukrainians through grandfather and great-grandfather. We were always farmers, capable of any trade. One of my ancestors even built a church. There were 6 children in our family, one brother, and the rest girls. Mama had prayed to the blessed Mother asking to be given at least one son. Our Peter suffered greatly under the Soviets. He was arrested on December 6, 1946 along with an older sister Eustace. They arrested them in the middle of the night, at 3 am. They arrested many others that night. They were able to bully them. This just destroyed our family. But then, people can say the same thing everywhere in the Ukraine. Continue...

HOW TO ORDER

From the website of Aid to the Church in Need - publishers of 'Martyrs of Magadan':

If you would like to order a copy of Martyrs of Magadan, please call 1-800-628-6333 or write to: Aid to the Church in Need, 725 Leonard Street, PO Box 220384, Brooklyn, NY 11222. You may also request a copy by sending an email to info@acnusa.org or by donating online and marking the donation: Martyrs of Magadan. The suggested donation for the book is $20.