'Survived Hitler, murdered by Putin': Survivor of four Nazi concentration camps killed by Russians
Ukraine's foreign minister has condemned the killing of a 96-year-old Nazi concentration camp survivor by a Russian bomb as an "unspeakable crime."Dmytro Kuleba said Boris Romanchenko "lived his quiet life in Kharkiv until recently. Last Friday a Russian bomb hit his house and killed him. Unspeakable crime. Survived Hitler, murdered by Putin."
Mr Kuleba said Mr Romanchenko spent time in four different concentration camps: Buchenwald, Peenemünde, Mittelbau-Dora and Bergen-Belsen.The Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation confirmed their "friend" died last week.
In a post on their website, the Holocaust memorial foundation said: "It is with horror that we report the violent death of Boris Romanchenko in the war in Ukraine.
"The former prisoner and Vice President of the International Committee Buchenwald-Dora and Commands for Ukraine (IKBD) died in Kharkiv on Friday.
The foundation added: "A bullet [missile] hit the multi-storey building in which he lived. His apartment burned down."
The foundation said Mr Romanchenko was born near the Ukrainian town of Sumy in 1926 and was deported to Dortmund in 1942, where he had to do forced labour underground.
He tried to escape but was caught and sent to the Buchenwald concentration camp in January 1943.
He eventually spent time in four different camps.The Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Foundation manages the legacy of two of the largest concentration camps that were based in Germany during the Second World War.
Although all of the largest camps were based in Poland, tens of thousands of people were still forced to labour in horrendous conditions in the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora camps.
The foundation said in 2015 Mr Romanchenko spoke in Russian at a memorial service at the Buchenwald camp.
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The foundation said: "We mourn the loss of a close friend. We wish his son and granddaughter, who brought us the sad news, a lot of strength in these difficult times."
They said they were working with 30 other memorial organisations to provide aid to former victims of Nazi persecution in Ukraine.
Kharkiv, where Mr Romanchenko was killed, is Ukraine's second-biggest city and sits close to the Russian border.
It has been the site of an intense shelling campaign by the Russians but has so far remained in Ukraine's hands.