About This Archive
Raisa Grygorievna Pogorelova (Раїса Григорівна Погорелова)
Born September 16, 1924, in Kyiv, Ukraine. Taken to Germany as an Ostarbeiter (forced laborer) in April 1942 at age 17, turning 18 that September.
She worked on a farm in Schönaich, a village in Franconia, Bavaria — 46 km south of Würzburg. Her host was a farmer named Walter, whose family included sons Ludwig, Eduard (~24, a soldier), and “Schön” (~21), and daughter Hedwig.
From September 1943, she was transferred to factory work in Hannover (Podbielskistraße 100).
She kept a diary in two notebooks — a Ukrainian school notebook (“Зошит”, 10 kopecks, 12 pages) she brought from Kyiv, and a German shorthand notebook she acquired in Germany. On the cover of the first she wrote: Дневник Deutschland.
The Letters
Raisa wrote home constantly — to her sister Anna (born ~1920), her grandmother, and the children Grishunok and Motik. Mail between Germany and occupied Ukraine traveled via Deutsche Dienstpost Ukraine. Only postcards were allowed; letters were returned stamped “Zurück.” All outgoing mail bore Nazi censor marks.
Despite being a forced laborer earning 17 marks/month (later ~70 marks/month), Raisa sent parcels home: silk stockings, soap, saccharin, pencils, seeds, sausage, and cash.
Preservation
These 180 pages — letters, postcards, envelopes, and diary notebooks — survived the war, Soviet times, and a family emigration from Kyiv to Germany. In February 2026, Maksym Prokopov (Raisa’s grandson) digitized the entire archive and had the handwritten Russian text transcribed with the assistance of AI.
People
Family in Kyiv
- Anna (Аня) — Sister, main correspondent (born ~1920)
- Бабушка — Grandmother
- Гришунок / Мотик — Children in the family (nephews or younger siblings)
- Дядя Ваня — Uncle
At the Farm (Schönaich)
- Walter — Host farmer
- Ludwig — Young master, hunter
- Hedwig (Гетвіг) — Daughter, Anna’s age
- Eduard — Soldier son, anti-war views
- Schön — Younger son, fond of Raisa
- Vladislav Kurbanbaiev — Serbian forced laborer, Raisa’s first friend (“tall, dark, big brown eyes”)
- Рая / Реля Ш. — Ukrainian companion from Kyiv, separated at a neighboring farm
Correspondence Network
Nata Lepkova, Tamara Kozub, Shura Bodrova (Magdeburg), Olya Burchenko, Mascha Kodii — fellow Ukrainians scattered across Germany and Kyiv.
Geographic Route
Kyiv → Kraków (1.5 day stop) → Ansbach (21 nights in horse stable) → Würzburg (registration) → Schönaich (farm, May 1942 – Aug 1943) → Hannover (factory, from Sept 1943)
Photographs
Only two photographs of Raisa from the war years are known to survive.
On the back she wrote: “16/IX 1942. Deutschland dorf Ebrach. Фотографировалась в день рождения. Сегодня 16/IX-1942 года мне исполнилось 18 лет.” — “Photographed on my birthday. Today, September 16, 1942, I turned 18.”
The back is inscribed simply: “Ebrach IX 1944г.” — This photograph, taken in September 1944, is the latest dated artifact in the archive, extending the documented timeline a full year beyond the last surviving letter.
Contact
This archive is maintained by the Prokopov family. For inquiries, research collaboration, or if you recognize any names or places: prokopov.me.