“First of all it was very interesting because, for me, freedom -I didn’t have lot of experience with this Holocaust scene. But it’s an amazing story about survival. To be honest I work a lot with kill-sites and mass graves -a lot of sites of sorrow. And it’s very, very, special for me to take part in a project which touches something about surviving – not about death -but about life.

I understand this part of a very, very, hard story because a lot of people who were here- used to live here – lost almost all of their families, friends etc, but on the other hand we visited exhibition (The Lake District Holocaust Project Exhibition) about people (Survivors) who lived a huge, long amazing life and I think it’s very emotional because it’s about life…life always who win.

As for me, the most important thing for me was to see faces of the people – for example Minia, because you know, when you just dig, it’s one thing. But when you understand the story of people who used to live here, who spent some time here, who left their stay here, it was amazing……Denise (Minia’s daughter) is very similar to her mother.

(Why did you particularly become interested in the Holocaust?) Because I think it is one of the darkest pages of modern history and we have to understand that lesson and do everything for peace to stop war and understand that all people are worth…it’s all about tolerance and about learning hard lessons and as a researcher I could help for understanding and to investigate true story and pay some respect of victims. 

This place is amazing because it is in respect of surviving but in other sites, my research (will) help to pay attention and recover remembrance of victims who were tens and tens years’ unknown. Unfortunately in the Ukraine there are (many).”

Daria Cherkaska – August 2019