Object:
A hearing aid
The exhibition of the Museum of Resistance presents a hearing aid that an 82-year-old woman wore to hear Ukrainian songs sung by her neighbors at night. Medical volunteers brought her a new hearing aid after the liberation of Kherson.
Sounds of Kherson: Ukrainian song is louder than explosions
This story is about how the people of Kherson sang the national anthem of Ukraine and "Chervona kalyna" at night during the occupation
During the occupation, not only the appearance of the city changed. The sounds have also changed. The people of Kherson have learned to sleep to the sound of explosions and to distinguish where the projectile is flying from, who is shooting – the Russians or our boys. When the sounds of shots were heard from our side, people rejoiced, because it meant that they had not forgotten about Kherson, that the Ukrainian military was fighting to liberate it.
Other sounds were much scarier than the explosions...
The head of the social service, Anton Yefanov, deliberately stayed in Kherson to help people with evacuation, with medicines and food. He says that the most difficult part of the occupation was the psychological pressure and the risk of arrest of workers of social institutions:
"We spent the night with our windows open just to hear if a car was approaching. I did not wake up from the explosions, nor did my people. We often woke up from a small whisper near the window, from a soft rustle of tires, because it could mean that they were coming to get us."
One night, through an open window, Anton heard how people began to sing the national anthem of Ukraine and "Chervona kalyna" song in the dark. They didn't turn on the lights; they just opened the windows, went out to the balconies in their multistoried buildings and sang.
This moment became one of the strongest impressions for Anton:
"Now, when I hear the national anthem, I immediately remember this night, during the occupation, when the billboards "Russia is here forever" were everywhere, their patrols were driving along the streets, they were everywhere, and it felt like you can't breathe, but at night it's freedom, you can sing the anthem, pick up when someone else is singing, and you feel like you’re not alone. You don't even know the people who sing it, in the big yard the windows are black at night. And when the whole yard: one voice starts, then someone joins in and eventually 15-20 people are singing – it was incredibly uplifting and gave strength to hold on".
This moment of unity and resistance through the song was experienced by everyone, both old and young. 82-year-old Lidia Stepanivna, who stayed with her daughter in the occupied Kherson due to health issues, hardly left her apartment and did not wear her hearing aid – she did not want to hear the explosions. However, that evening, her daughter was standing by the open window, and Lidia Stepanivna asked: "What is going on?". The daughter replied that people sing. Then the elderly woman took out her hearing aid, put it on and also went to the window. After hearing "Chervona kalyna" song, she cried and also started singing along.
Photo: Michael Klokta
