“A thick coat of broken glass was covering every surface. Documents and equipment were no exception”

Svitlana Kurach, a senior research staff member of the collection department of H. Galagan Chernihiv Oblast Museum of Art recalls: when the war began, her own safety was not the only concern. She also worried about museum collections. So, she rushed to the museum. She says that Russian spared no effort trying to destroy our cultural heritage. Svitlana and her colleagues preserved every exhibit. How? This is her firsthand account. 

The Museum of Civilian Voices is grateful to our partners – Committee for Ukrainian Museums (Komitet Pomocy Muzeom Ukrainy) and the Warsaw Uprising Museum (Muzeum Powstania Warszawskiego) for their help with arranging the interviews.