Mariupol, the testimony of the Ukrainian Schindler who saved 117 people

While in Mariupol there is hand-to-hand combat, there are those who, having survived the destruction of the town on the Azov Sea and escaped from enemy fire, are looking for “other opportunities to help people escape from that hell”. “There are many people who are unable to leave the city and efforts are needed to help it.” These are the words of one of the unknown heroes of this war, Oleksiy Simonov, the Ukrainian Schindler who in Mariupol helped 117 people escape, saving their lives, a few days before the bombing of the Theater. Oleksiy now lives in Ternopil with his thoughts turned to those who have not followed him from his city and are still there. Adnkronos contacted him, to hear his story. “I had found shelter with 280 other people, including many children, in a shelter that was bombed for four consecutive days. The missiles aimed at the building above. Around the bombs had created at least 4 very deep chasms that made it impossible to access the ‘area. Fortunately only two people from our shelter were injured. Also because we had established strict rules of life, which certainly protected us “. Simonov remembers the rhythms of life “from the Stone Age. We collected water outside where possible, lit fires at the entrance to the shelter to cook and communicated by word of mouth, in relay from shelter to shelter, because the telephone lines were interrupted “. The decision to leave Mariupol was made by the Ukrainian Schindler around March 10, the day Simonov also visits the Theater. “It was overcrowded, there were people everywhere, not only in the basement where at least 250 people were hiding. However – he specifies – the crowding was similar to other shelters in the city, of which, however, less has been said. Like the Palace of Culture, hit on 2 March and now completely razed to the ground. Hundreds of people were hiding there. I hope they were saved “. Oleksiy proceeds: “We waited for the temperature to rise before escaping. Because we knew we would be outside for a long time. With another man we were monitoring the situation outside, we knew that the front line had been hit.” The evening before the escape, about a hundred people joined, “the following morning only 80 fled with us”. And the others? “They were afraid. They did not feel safe. You know – he comments – it is difficult to leave ….”. Quickly in line, one after the other the group leaves led by Simonov, loaded with suitcases, backpacks, abandoned later on during the journey due to fatigue. Instead, he increases the number of fugitives: “gradually, walking from other shelters another 37 people joined”, he recalls. The group crosses Mariupol and Simonov says he saw “the destruction. But also the denial of many people who, despite the bombs, continued to live as if nothing was in their apartments”. Arriving at the first Russian checkpoint, the group splits up and not all of them head towards the Ukrainian side. “Some have chosen to go to Russia, due to propaganda – he explains – We have seen volunteer buses seized by the enemy and used to deport people. The volunteers we were in contact with in the Ukrainian side told us that they could not come and pick us up. because they would have stolen other means and they suggested we walk through the check point. So we did. And we poured onto the highway, without luggage but cats and dogs that no one had wanted to leave “. Marching for 7 km the group arrives in Manush: “there was bread, water – remnants – And we found a new big family. The mayor of the village had placed us in the only room found available to spend the night. But a woman who happened to be there, said he would find warm places for us at his and other people’s homes. So it was. ” In the morning, after the first departure by private car to Komyshuvate, the group finally heads to Zaporzhzhia by bus led by Yellow Blue Wings volunteers “through villages, dirt roads. There were no humanitarian corridors. Alternative routes were sought”. “We went through 15-20 checkpoints of Russians and the republic of Donbass where the cruelest people were. Ready to shoot, kidnap us, make us disappear. At each checkpoint they checked phones, tattoos, hands. They wanted to know if we had fought, by the marks imprinted on our body “. The Odyssey ends after crossing the gray zone and arriving at the Ukrainian checkpoint: “everyone has gone their own way to the west. I’m in Ternopil; I’m thinking about how to save other people from that hell.” (Roberta Lanzara)