The project provides an insight into private stories of the heroes with photos of their belongings.
The authors invite us to reconsider the concept of home through the private things taken or left. The objects become islands of memory, telling stories of the displaced persons from Eastern Ukraine. People who were forced to leave their homes as soon as possible taking only the most necessary and most valuable things.
Their stories are an integral part of the modern history of Ukraine. Their belongings reflect the spirit and values in the tough times we face. With these photos and interviews the authors aim to share the personal stories in an accessible way.
The project is being carried out within the Live History Workshop that is implemented in Ukraine by Insha Osvita Organization in collaboration with the MitOst e.V. Union with the financial support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany and the Robert Bosch Foundation.
ALBINA
That day my friends and I were on our way to the university when we heard the roar of helicopters. We were scared very much. My mom called and told me to go back home. Our flat was on the last floor with panoramic windows. We could see what was going on in the city, and it was scary. So we quickly decided to leave Donetsk.
We decided to leave for the Crimea. We rented an apartment in Sevastopol, and then lived in Livadia until September. I spent the summer in the Crimea with my mother and sister. My father and grandfather stayed in Donetsk. Later they decided we had to move to Dnipro. We rented a large apartment there. We went to Dnipro through Russia and Donetsk. And that was the last time I was home.
I spent the whole year in Dnipro at home. Then I went to my friends in Kyiv for the New Year’s Eve. That is how I got myself here. I always wanted to leave Donetsk. So the war helped me in a sense. When I was in Donetsk for the last time I noticed the city had become empty. There was no one I knew in the city. I couldn’t go out as it was dangerous to walk around the city.
Walking along the streets in Dnipro or in Kyiv I often feel as if I'm at home; that’s like flashbacks. I met two girls in Dnipro; they were always whining about how they wanted back to Donetsk. Finally, they left. I did not understand them. We did not take a lot of things with us, as we couldn’t fit them into our car.
Nevertheless, I consider myself sentimental. I love my Dr. Martens shoes. I took the camera and my favorite watch. Then, of course, a pillow for the pregnant. I do not know how the other people sleep but we all embrace something while sleeping. So, I have the pillow.
RITA VOLOSHKOVA
I went to Kyiv for my summer internship. I had a minimum number of things with me. My parents and I agreed that I’d return in two or three weeks.
Since July 12, 2014, I have not been at home in Donetsk. The worst thing is that I still really want to go to Donetsk. For me it still remains as it was in April-May 2014. Many of my friends went to Donetsk and were disappointed with what is the city now. Three generations of my family lived in Donetsk, and the city is still beautiful in my mind.
My family all headed our separate ways. Only my grandmother stayed. The rest of my big family: mother, father, brother, another grandmother, all went to various Ukrainian towns. I asked my mother to send me my prom dress and my Converse Keds; she didn’t find the latter. So my Keds are still waiting for me in Donetsk.
I miss my home very much. I am not the one who can easily leave for another city. Recently I’ve moved a lot. I get attached to things very easily. I try to keep them in my memory and take them with me. This is especially aggravated after Donetsk. I need to be surrounded by the memory of things. I am not the one who can go forward without looking back. I always appreciate what happened to me and try to keep it in my mind.
Of course, there are many things I would like to take with me. If I could, I would take my books, first of all. They create the homelike feeling. My parents used to buy books, and we had a library at home. When I was a child I have read all of them and signed them as "Margarita Voloshkova’s book". These books made me who I am now.
Of course, these things are not just sweaters or skirts that I can also buy in Kyiv. But things containing particles of my life. I would really like to take my diaries. But now I can’t reach them. We all left our homes in summer and fall. Our warm winter clothes were send to us. The odor of our homes came together with the parcels. Opening the box, you felt the odor; it was incredible. I became a completely different person. Just yesterday I spoke to a friend who left for other city as well. (Hi Dima!) He said I had changed, according to him I had lots of energy before, and now I have a core.
I am grateful for what happened to me. Of course, it left a scar. But in general, I am grateful for all the towns, all the experience, all the tries to earn the living when you walk around the city and ask: "Can I have a job?” And now, I’m 21, I find myself completely independent. I hardly got a lot of new friends. My circle of close friends still stays there. I have rather received good colleagues.
I believe you have only one homeland. Kyiv is just a place of residence for me.
ELDAR KHALILOV
It was the 1st of July. After taking my last exam I realized it was time to leave. They’ve taken my father. We got our car stolen. This was sort of the last straw. And my family decided to leave.
Our route was really hard. We first went with my father to Azerbaijan; my brother and mother stayed at home. Later they’ve joined us. We all stayed in Azerbaijan till the end of August.
Then we had to move again, first to my grandmother’s house in Artemivsk, then to Chernihiv, Brovary, Kherson. In late September we returned to Donetsk. We stayed in father’s old house. I had no choice but to pack up.
My father asked me to stay in Baku but I did not want to work and study in Azerbaijan. So I went hitchhiking to Ukraine. In fact, it was very cool to travel from Baku. Once I found myself near Kharkiv I just wanted to cry out "I'm home!"
Perhaps, I am not still accustomed. My baggage is not still sorted through. I was so not into that.
I had to work and return to the university. I missed my home. Only in a year I began to realize I had finally settled down.
I have changed completely. So did many things around me. I began working and opening myself when I was 18. Now I’m a sales manager! We all gained wide experience that many people can’t get for their whole life. You just become an iron and nothing can scare you any longer.
After moving I felt as if I left with an empty heart. You know, I do not say "I'm going home" but only "to my apartment" or "I am in my room". There is no concept of home left for me. It’s sort of emotional emptiness. But eventually emptiness is going away and something new is appearing.
Yes, there are things I do not feel myself comfortable without in any new place. The children made me a present for the New Year’s Eve, a small Santa Claus; I called it David and took it with me wherever I went. And unless David settles on my shelf, I cannot feel safe in a new place.
In fact, it’s very funny. I am a man with beard and with a small toy.
Or a cup, my birthday present, "Keep Calm and Love DoNU”. I took it to Azerbaijan, to Vinnytsia; heaven forbid, it is not broken. David, a fluffy toy. Or my T-shirt, of Darijo Srna, a Croatian footballer. I got it when I was a schoolboy. It’s strange; it is still in good condition and fits me.
And my sneakers. I was wearing them when I left home and promised to come back wearing them too. Though worn out, they’re still waiting to return home.
My flags. The flag of Ukraine, I went to a meeting in Donetsk with this one. I took it with the flag of Azerbaijan. When I was leaving Donetsk I rolled up the Ukrainian flag in the Azerbaijan one and put them into my sweater. My mother hemmed the flags so that nobody could see them.
And a magnet: "Donbas is a land of miners". Magnets like this were handed out during the Peace March. And that's all.
I miss my house, many of my friends, my close people.
My journey is hardly over. I plan to live a little in Odesa and Lviv. I am a nomad now and can’t help it.
Things carry the memories and images of the past life. However, not in the sense of idolatry. I believe my home is created by my close people, and I miss them much. In Vinnytsia, I had friends who helped me in any way they could. Definitely it is the people who create home.
NATASHA CHICHASOVA
One day the city got empty as if almost everyone died. We just walked along the streets. Cafe’s that used to be overcrowded were completely empty at that time. Armed people loafed on the city sidewalks. We realized it was better to leave for us. So I left.
I had a long period of uncertainty before moving to Kyiv. At that time, I got married, and together with my husband and parents we went to the Azov sea coast where we spent some time. Then we went to Russia; we couldn’t open up any opportunities there, so finally we found ourselves in Kyiv.
First I felt very scared because of horrible stories I’d been told before, about the bad attitude and difficulties that people from Donetsk faced. At the university I met lots of cool people who showed me Kyiv; thanks to them I eventually loved this city. Yes, Kyiv became my second home.
Today I can say Kyiv is a more native city for me than Donetsk was, as it is the city where I became a personality. I started to develop as a creative person, and I think I will go on. Besides, almost all my closest friends from Donetsk moved here. So, eventually, I feel that Kyiv is getting more and more homelike.
In fact, I gained a lot because of moving. In Donetsk I had no idea of what I wanted to do and no one could understand me. Why do you spend time doing art, people would ask? But here, I met new friends whom I can share my ideas and projects with. They wondered why I had not done anything yet? Here I found tremendous support. I’m so grateful to Kyiv and even the circumstances which led me here. Besides, having been kicked up a notch, I began living an adult life. I’m no longer childish. So I became stronger and older.
Probably, nothing is left in Donetsk that I would like to take with me. We sold our apartment; a few months ago we got the last parcel with things from our former home.
KATYA BONDARENKO
It was in the end of April or the beginning of May. When they just called and said that armored trucks are around the city. And on May 31, my sister and I went to our relatives in the country for three weeks. And these three weeks have been lasting for two and a half years now.
That was not a one-time moving. First I went to Dnipropetrovsk region, then moved to the city of Dnipro, later I spent August in Donetsk region. I lived with my parents in the country, near Ugledar, hoping everything will calm down by September.
It was very unusual to hear the roars from Donetsk. But then I moved to Vinnytsia, and it was my biggest moving. I’ve been changing houses and neighbors for a million times, living out of a suitcase. And now I’m in Kyiv and I think it'll last.
Donetsk remains as it was in the spring of 2014 for me. I remember Donetsk as my beloved home place that lives a life of its own. I do not know any other Donetsk. I'm glad that only good things have been left in my memory.
I took only some summer clothes with me. My parents stayed in the city till August. My grandma was sending all the things from our home. Gradually, during the year, we moved all the stuff. I remember how happy my mother felt receiving parcels and every plate.
We’ve left our apartment in Donetsk with furniture, small things and memorable figurines. Of course, my grandmother did not send those though they mean a lot to me. It is not the specific things I miss but the whole home atmosphere. Every room has been assembled bit by bit. Mom and dad just poured the soul into our home. I really miss it. And even now visiting my parents in Mariupol I feel something is wrong.
I forgot a sense of peace. Now I feel a little better compared to last year. There is no emotional stability left though. I was happy when I was a child. Now I linger on my days in worries and anxieties.
You know, I became stronger and older after these events. I’ve lived alone for two and a half years. I work, rent a flat, care about my life by myself. I met the people who are like my family now. We’ve faced many problems together.
I can’t imagine my life without my new friends. As it is said, a friend in need is a friend indeed. We survived the troubles together; that’s why we’re now close. All those difficulties showed me who is who.
I have two paintings that my best friend painted. They are always in plain view.
I have all sorts of boxes which I took from Donetsk. They help me to create the comfort in my room. I like that I have not replaced those things yet. Those all are my birthday presents from my aunt and friends.
I love Donetsk, I always wanted to live there. In Donetsk or in Paris. I remember the place of the first kiss, the first meetings with friends. I am very glad that I do not know the bad Donetsk.
