Municipal institution “Vysokopillia Museum of Local Lore”, Vysokopillia, Beryslav district, Kherson region

The museum was founded in 1980 on the initiative of Oleksii Pushkariov on the basis of a school, then on the basis of a young technicians' station, and was initially housed in one room.  

Yana Gergel interviewed during a visit to Vysokopillia in summer 2023, further clarification by phone with Kateryna Bibik.  

Municipal institution “Vysokopillia Museum of Local Lore”, Vysokopillia, Beryslav district, Kherson region 

Compiled by Vladyslav Lytkevych for Arolsen Archives as part of the project to identify and describe microarchives in Ukraine for EHRI.  

Photographic paper, paper, photocopies, homemade stands (there was a large stand on World War 2 with original photos of veterans), digital materials (video interviews with World War 2 veterans).  

The history of Vysokopillia and Vysokopillia district from the beginning of the 20th century to the present. Lists of Ostarbeiters (15 sheets) were already in the museum when Bibik became director, she does not know their origin. Bibik estimates the number of photographs related to the period of World War II to be 100. A local resident, Hennadii Trush, found and handed over to the museum the lists of Soviet combatants buried in the Vysokopil district. The number of sheets and the availability of this list needs to be clarified. In general, the entire collection needs a detailed qualitative and quantitative analysis, as there was no inventory journal, and during the Russian occupation of 2022, the museum's collection was partially looted. According to Bibik, starting in the spring of 2025, she can volunteer to help the current museum staff evaluate and make a basic analysis of the collection. The museum had up to 30 “funeral notices” (notices of death of Soviet combatants) in its collection; museum representatives do not yet know whether they remained in the collection after the Russian occupation in 2022. Many award documents of Soviet combatants of World War 2, their number and availability after the Russian occupation in 2022 need to be assessed. Appraisal The museum was founded in 1980 on the initiative of Oleksii Pushkariov on the basis of a school, then on the basis of a young technician station, and was originally housed in one room. In 2011, the museum was moved to the current building (an old German school), where it is located today. The Russian occupiers lived in the museum during the occupation of Vysokopillia, which began on March 13, 2022. The building is destroyed, the windows were broken as a result of the Russian occupation in 2022.  

Access by prior request to the museum director Yana Gergel  

Copying on site by prior request to the museum director Yana Gergel  

In general, the entire collection needs a detailed qualitative and quantitative analysis, as there was no inventory journal, and during the Russian occupation of 2022, the museum's collection was partially looted. According to Bibik, starting in the spring of 2025, she can volunteer to help the current museum staff evaluate and make a basic analysis of the collection.