Born in February 1911 in Smolyn, Galicia, western Ukraine.
A small village where people from many different cultures lived together.
Most of the people who lived in Smolyn were Greek Catholics. Like Zakhariy.
They spoke Ruthenian, Polish, and German. During the Second World War, the village was first occupied by the Soviet army and then, in June 1941, by the German Wehrmacht. In 1945, it became part of the Soviet Union. Today, Smolyn is located in Ukraine.
We don’t know much about him.
But we do know that his mother was called Anna.
And that he only went to school for a few years – perhaps in the nearest larger town, Rava-Ruska.
Stiftung Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas
He was 28 years old when the war came.
The German occupiers were recruiting young workers for the Reich with empty promises.
Bayerische Staatsbibliothek München/Bildarchiv/Heinrich Hoffmann.
Zakhariy applied for official papers issued in German.
By May 1942 at the latest, the Nazis had stopped recruiting people.
Bundesarchiv, Plak 003-042-008
Instead, they deported people against their will.
Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-R70660Zakhariy was sent to Bavaria as a civilian forced laborer.
Zakhariy’s work documents sometimes identify him as Ukrainian. And sometimes as Polish.
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His workbook tells us what happened to him next:
First he was a farm worker. Then an unskilled worker in a sawmill in Rott am Inn.
Later, he worked at the Prüller dairy farm in Feldkirchen, Wasserburg.
His places of work were only a few kilometers apart.
Zakhariy stayed in one and the same area until he died.
He saved money that was never returned to him or his family.
But the promise of wages and security was nothing more than a lie.
Zakhariy’s wallet also contained three postcards.
From his brother Mychajlo. Or perhaps his half-brother?
Zakhariy kept the letters in the safest place he could – on his person.
They must have been very valuable to him.
In the spring of 1943, Zakhariy spent two weeks in hospital in Wasserburg.
He was discharged on 8.5.43 with a note that read “better and able to work.”
We know that he needed passport photos at the beginning of 1944.
Zakhariy was not allowed to go to the photographer without official permission.
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He probably borrowed a clean suit especially for the photos.
He told Mychajlo he’d send him a photo, but he never did.
In March 1944, he received a new workbook.
He would only need it for a few weeks.
Zakhariy died in hospital in Wasserburg am Inn on March 31, 1944.
Cause of death “Bruises to the head, fractured skull.”
But what was the truth behind this official cause of death?
Was it an accident at work? Or was he a victim of violence?
A list of foreigners in Wasserburg cited “kidney failure” as the cause of his death.
We don’t know what really happened.
Zakhariy was buried in the municipal cemetery “Im Hag” on April 1, 1944.
Stadtarchiv Wasserburg a. Inn, VR1014‐a (=Gräberplan Altstadtfriedhof, Im Hag 7). Kennzeichnung Grabstelle Sacharij Kistetschok, M.Haupt.
His grave was reused in the 1960s.
Today, a memorial plaque in the cemetery commemorates the forced laborers who were buried there.
Gedenktafel auf dem Friedhof in WasserburgZakhariy’s wallet turned up in the Area Child Care Officer’s office in Munich in 1950.
A chance find. No one knows how it got there.
It’s the only clue we have to Zakhariy’s fate.
The Ukrainian Red Cross managed to trace Lidija, his brother Mychajlo’s daughter, in 2019.
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Zakhariy’s possessions were returned to his family 75 years after his death.
For Lidija, these mementoes are a precious treasure. She wishes Mychajlo could have been there to receive them.