Fanny Brodersen & Riham Alkousaa

BERLIN (Reuters). Berlin’s Pilecki Institute is a research institute that focuses on 20th-century history, including Nazi crimes during World War Two. It is currently gathering testimony from refugee witnesses about possible war crimes committed in Ukraine.

After Russia’s February 24 invasion, the International Criminal Court (ICC), began a formal investigation of possible war crimes in Ukraine and other crimes against humanity.

Named after an officer of Polish cavalry who braved his own life in order to record the Auschwitz situation during World War Two. The Pilecki Institute was founded to interview refugees and document war crimes.

Mateusz Falkowski said, Reuters: “We collect all witness accounts about war crimes Ukraine, relying upon the experience we have…the voices of victims from the Second World War,” Mateusz Falkowski was deputy head.

On Friday, data from the Interior Ministry showed that more than 369,000 Ukrainians fled violence in Ukraine.

Begin witness interviews by asking the witness to give a written account of their own wartime situation. Next, follow-up with specific questions regarding events that took place at certain times or places.

“Also, the exact date and time that it happened, in Mariupol, Kherson, etc. Falkowski spoke about where they were, and exactly what they saw.

Falkowski stated that crimes such as the destruction or monument of civil infrastructure, sexual violence, and other war crimes were all documented. He also said that legal experts helped create the questionnaire to make sure the information is still relevant to the law after the conflict.

He said, “That’s scientifically speaking, it means that we are building an archive for oral history.”

I hope Ukraine won’t be forgotten. Falkowski shared that they hope (people living in West )… will remember) if they can rely upon these documents, materials and interviews.

It is located in walking distance to Berlin’s Holocaust Memorial.

The U.N. human rights office stated that there is increasing evidence of Russian war crimes against Ukraine. This includes signs of indiscriminate bombardment and summary executions. It also said that Ukraine may have used weapons of indiscriminate effect.

Russia refers to its incursion in Ukraine as “special military operations” that aims to dearm and “denazify the country. It denies attacking civilians and committing war crimes.