Valentin Tkatschow
* 1944

Valentin Tkatschow, born on 30.5.1944 in Hamburg, died on 5.10.1944

Essener Street 54 (formerly camp Tannenkoppel, Weg 4, also called "Tarpenbek = Forced labor camp of the armaments industry in Hamburg Langenhorn)

Valentin Tkatschow was born in Hamburg on May 30, 1944. His mother Alexandra Kwatschka, born on December 30, 1921 in Russia, was single and presumably of the Russian Orthodox faith, registered as "Orthodox". Deported from her homeland, she was first forced to perform forced labor at the "Müller" jam factory in Hamburg-Billstedt. In the eighth month of her pregnancy, she was transferred to the Tannenkoppel camp, Weg 4, in Hamburg-Langenhorn on April 4, 1944, for forced labor for Hanseatische Kettenwerk GmbH (HAK) and/or Deutsche Meßapparate GmbH (Messap).

Already two weeks before the birth of her child, Alexandra Kwatschka was admitted to the Alsterdorf hospital with the diagnosis "allegedly labor pains", but was released to the Tannenkoppel camp again after two days. On the day of the birth, she returned to the Alsterdorf hospital and gave birth to a son.

According to the birth certificate, his father was "SS-Ostsoldat Wasili Tkatschow, Orthodox." According to this, he probably belonged to the approximately 40,000 "volunteers" who had been recruited in the Ukraine after a call by the Waffen-SS in 1943. Preference was given to men from the Lviv area whose fathers had once served in the Austro-Hungarian army for the "SS Volunteer Division Galicia". Vasily Tkachev's whereabouts were considered unknown.

Nine days after giving birth, on June 8, 1944, Alexandra Kwatschka returned to the Tannenkoppel camp with her son Valentin. There Valentin had to spend the short time of his life. The nutritional and living conditions were completely inadequate for him.
On October 2, 1944, he was admitted to the Langenhorn General Hospital with the diagnosis of "nutritional disorders." There he died after three days, at 10:30 a.m. on October 5, 1944. The hospital's obituary lists the cause of death as "pedatrophy" (emaciation - most severe degree of nutritional disturbance) and Blumenthal as the signing physician.

Valentin was 4 months and 5 days old.

Seven days after his death, his burial took place on October 12, 1944 in the Ohlsdorf cemetery, grave location: Q 39, row 7, no. 35. His grave is no longer preserved. At the end of 1959 it was levelled together with at least 146 graves of children of forced laborers on area Q 39.

Translation by Beate Meyer