Voices of Those Who Survived
A project ensuring access to the testimonies of those who survived the Holocaust (Vancouver, Canada)
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PROJECT DESCRIPTION
ABOUT THIS PROJECT
This project presents ten personal testimonies of children who survived the Holocaust, the Second World War on the territories of the former Soviet Union, and evacuation. Their recollections were collected within the Russian-speaking community of Vancouver, to which they later immigrated as adults.
Memorial statement
Preserving testimony means preserving the human voice inside history.
More than eighty years ago, Jews became victims of one of the greatest genocides of the twentieth century — the Holocaust. Among the victims were countless children.
The project presents ten personal testimonies of Jewish children who survived the Holocaust, the Second World War on the territories of the former Soviet Union, and were evacuated. Their recollections were collected within the Russian-speaking community of the city of Vancouver, to which they later emigrated at different times as adults.

Each featured testimony introduces a person through a brief profile on the main page, while fuller biographical context, interview information, and audio-access instructions appear in an expanded side panel. The page is designed to support bilingual reading in English and Ukrainian.

Audio materials are not played directly on the page. Instead, visitors are guided through a request flow that connects them to the Holocaust Museum of Vancouver archive process, preserving institutional stewardship while still making the collection legible to the public.
Location
Vancouver, Canada
Timeline
2023 – 2024 Interviews
Languages
English / Ukrainian
TESTIMONIES
NAMES OF THE SURVIVORS
These testimonies preserve the voices of people whose childhoods were shaped by persecution, war, evacuation, displacement, and migration. Each profile introduces a survivor and provides a respectful path toward fuller biographical and archival context.
Ilana Soroka
Interviewed in
Coquitlam, Canada
·
22 October 2024
Born 1939 in Kyiv, Ukraine. After her father joined the front and never returned, she was evacuated near Shymkent. She lost family members to illness during the war, returned to Kyiv in 1944, and later emigrated to Israel in the 1990s.
See more
Dina Podoxin
Interviewed in
Coquitlam, Canada
·
19 October 2023
Born May 1938 in Leningrad. Her testimony covers the siege of Leningrad, evacuation to Kazan in 1941, overcoming antisemitic barriers to attend university, the family’s move to Israel in 1990, and her immigration to Canada in 2017.
See more
Arkady Gofshtein
Interviewed in
Coquitlam, Canada
·
7 October 2023
Born in Mazyr, Belarus, Arkady survived the war in evacuation across the Soviet Union. He later built a career as a mechanical engineer and researcher in Minsk before emigrating to Israel in 1991 and to Canada in 2001.
See more
Fania Khavkina
Interviewed in
Coquitlam, Canada
·
25 October 2024
Born June 1935 in Gomel, Belarus. She recounts wartime evacuation with her mother through several Soviet cities, severe illness, antisemitic barriers blocking her from medical school, her education at the Forestry Technical School, and immigration to Canada in 1980.
See more
Zoia Voron
Interviewed in
Richmond, Canada
·
9 October 2024
Born in Odessa, Zoia survived the war in evacuation in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, where she lived from age four to eight. She later built a career as a civil engineer in Odessa before following her son to Vancouver, Canada in the mid-1990s.
See more
Inna Zemlyanikova
Interviewed in
Richmond, Canada
·
4 October 2023
Born 1939 in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Evacuated with family to Nizhny Tagil during the war while her father worked at a tank factory. After the war she faced antisemitic workplace discrimination, immigrated to Israel, and later to Canada in 2006.
See more
Zhanna Maslova
Interviewed in
Coquitlam, Canada
·
23 October 2023
Born June 1938 in Moscow. Evacuated to the Gorky region during the war while her father served at the front. She later became a computing technology professional working 55 years at a scientific research institute, and immigrated to Canada in 2016.
See more
Klara Rubinchik
Interviewed in
Coquitlam, Canada
·
20 October 2023
Born April 1936 in Belarus. Her family survived the German occupation of Minsk by being hidden by neighbors. She later emigrated to Israel in 1990, integrated into Israeli society, and moved to Canada in 2010.
See more
Vladimir Ivanov
Interviewed in
Vancouver, Canada
·
5 November 2024
Born 1937 in Simferopol, Crimea. His father died in 1941. The testimony covers his family’s evacuation from Crimea, institutionalized Soviet antisemitism (including the 1949 anti-Semitic campaigns), his long career in the Soviet film industry, and emigration to Canada in 1995.
See more
Polina Gruzinova
Interviewed in
Richmond, Canada
·
16 October 2023
Born March 1939 in Yenakievo, Ukraine. Her father died in the war and her brother went missing under suspicious circumstances. She navigated post-war poverty and relocation, immigrated to Israel in 1994, and settled in Canada in 2016.
See more
CREDITS
AUTHORS AND EXECUTIVES
The individuals and institutions whose work made this testimony archive possible.
PROJECT TEAM
Mnemonika / Project Team

Maksym Gon

Director of the Center,
Chairman of the Expert Council of the Center

Kateryna Popova

Chairperson of the Board of the Center,
member of the Expert Council of the Center

Nataliia Ivchyk

Member of the Expert Council of the Center

Eugene Tsymbaliuk

Subtitle production

Artem Markin

UI/UX Designer, Web Developer

PARTNER INSTITUTION
Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre / ARCHIVE PARTNER

Hannah Marazzi

Executive Director VHEC

Ada Alster

Archivist VHEC

Caitlin Donaldson

Director of Collections & Exhibitions

Michaela Sawyer

Collections Assistant VHEC

Oksana Kotsur

Editor, Translator

SUPPORT
GRANT-GIVERS
In recognition of the institutions whose support made the collection, preservation, and presentation of these testimonies possible.
IHRA
International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance
VHEC
VANCOUVER HOLOCAUST EDUCATION CENTRE