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Kalinovka internat, Ukraine, responds to false allegations of Death Camps for children

In 2006 a person by the name of Terry Hallman made a senational allegations that Ukrainian authorities were systematically engaged in the mass murder and genocide of children. The allegations made have not been substantiated and not one accredited international welfare agency has supported Mr Hallman's allegations.

Terry Hallman after two years of failing to provide evidence for his sensational claims of Death Camps for Children recently published some photographs dated 29-December-2007 (One year after Hallman first claimed he had evidence of the horrific crimes of genocide being perpetrated by the Ukrainian Government) These photographs show what appears to be a grave yard located in Kalinovka, Ukraine. They certainly do not constitute what we would consider to be evidence of horrific crimes and they certainly are not hidden from view. Again we need to point out that not one accredited international welfare agency has backed Mr Hallman’s assertions and claims that the Ukrainian Authorities are involved in a conspiracy of mass murder or Jeniece of children. This allegation is not supported by the facts or evidence . Evidence that Mr Hallman claimed he had yet still has failed to produce. (two years have passed since he first made his sensational unsubstantiated allegations).

Having had experience in dealing with Mr Hallman in the past we thought it was appropriate to once again undertake some due diligence checks. As we understand Mr Hallman has not visited the Kalinkova Internat Orphanage where the photos were taken. The information that Mr Halman refers to was published on the Internet by David Sudermann. As is often the case Mr Hallman tends to exaggerate and take matters out of context and more often then not plagiarise the works of others to give the impression that he is connected or involved. (A typical trait of con artists and charlatans)

A journalist last year contacted the genuine welfare worker and original author of the article that was published on the Kalinovka Orphanage. He specifically asked if David Sudermann could comment on Mr Hallam’s (With whom he has not met) allegations of “Death Camps for Children”.

Below is an extract of his reply..

1. It is clear from your quote that you read the recently posted report on the Kalinovka internat on the http://www.deti.zp.ua/ website. I can speak with some authority on the Kalinovka home, which I first visited in 1999. It is true that the children there have a sufficient quantity of food. But there are several nutrition problems: some severely disabled children cannot swallow or digest properly the food they are given. They need a special diet; but that would cost more, and there is no nutritionist at Kalinovka to work out individual diets. Second, because of under staffing, the children who need to be fed by hand, must wolf down their food. Third, Kalinovka has an attached farm and gardens which produce much of the food consumed at the internat. I have been told, though I have not seen it with my own eyes, that children may receive a diet of squash for long periods of time. Since the old director retired in 2007, I am not certain this is still the case.

2. I categorically reject labeling Ukrainian Orphanages “Death Camps.” This notion apparently comes from an article written by Mr. Terry Hallman, “Ukrainian Death Camps for Children” (http://eng.maidanua.org/node/581 ). First, the use of a term which we use to describe Dachau and Auschwitz is not appropriate for Ukrainian orphanages. In the Social Protection internats for disabled persons (both children and adults), and in Ukrainian mental asylums, there is plenty of neglect, under staffing, lack of resources, lack of adequate medical care, need for proper therapies, proper diet, and so on, but there is no policy of deliberate genocide or murder of the disabled as witnessed in the camps of Nazi Germany.

3. That said, there is a pressing social justice issue surrounding internats. Cognitively and physically disabled persons, not to mention “normal orphans,” are still felt by many to be burdens on society. Their lives appear to have less value and therefore they receive less of the state’s resources. The social policy of making such persons wards of the state and institutionalizing them goes back to the very beginnings of Bolshevik social policy in the 1920s. The structure of the internat system along with the dehumanizing attitudes were deeply rooted in communist society and have carried over into the post-soviet era.

4. In order accurately to describe conditions in the Social Protection internats, one would need to go to each one separately and spend time there. It is hard to believe second-hand reports where the author does not document his assertions or did not visit there. My experience with Kalinovka has been that many caretakers there do not regard the children as salvageable and therefore offer them only “maintenance care.” Most staff lack training in up-to-date methods of working with cerebral palsy and Down Syndrome. In addition, their pay is poor, something less than US200/month. The caretakers seem eager for better training and exposure to new methods. Jim Shetler can give you his impression of the orphanages for “normal” children. I think he will say that there are good-hearted and caring directors and staff in many such internats.

5. The old internat system is not just for children, and I am surprised that those North Americans who are so focused on children do not see the whole landscape. There are also many such places for disabled or mentally ill adults. Not far from Kalinovka in the village of Orlovo, there is a large facility for disabled men. The head nurse who guided the tour I took acknowledged that many changes were needed. She practically begged for outside help.

6. The internat system is run top down by a deeply entrenched bureaucracy. Happy Child and Albert Pavlov have been challenging the system from the bottom up and top down simultaneously. It could be risky. Nonetheless, I am hopeful that their efforts at Kalinovka will exert pressure for change and also change the cultural attitudes upon which the old system is based. Attacking officials of the Social Protection, Health, and Education Ministries is probably not the best strategy. My sense is that once the bureaucrats see that it is in their own best interest to reform care of the disabled, they will get on board pretty fast. For example, if Kalinovka could become a model facility for treating neurologically disabled children, that would make Pankratov, Social Protection Head in Zaporozhye, look very good.

7. I want to return to the Death Camp label to conclude. You may be familiar with the Eugenics Movement at the turn of the century until the 1930s, 40s, even 50s. Eugenics has its origins in the Great Britain and the U.S. but spread to Europe, Nazi Germany, and undoubtedly also influenced Soviet social planners. I have not researched the topic of Soviet social policy, but I strongly suspect that dehumanizing of the disabled in communist countries may have a common eugenics link with U.S. and Germany. This casts a bit of a different light on how to understand the internat phenomenon. Just as important, though, the lack of accountability and transparency in the social agencies allowed for abuses and neglect.

I hope some of this proves helpful to you.

David Sudermann
Northfield, Minnesota

If you are reading this article and wish to make a donation we would advise that you contact David Sudermann directly and not Mr Hallman or his colleague Jeff Mowatt. Contact details are available on http://deti.zp.ua/eng/help.php web site.

For further information

Contact: David Sudermann

Organisation: Chernigovskiy orphanage ( Kalinovka village
Web Site: http://deti.zp.ua/eng/index.php

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