In 1942, as the Nazis occupied the city of Rostov-on-Don, then 14-year-old Fedor Mikhailichenko was unable to be evacuated with the rest of his naval school due to sickness. Denounced by a neighbour, he was sent to forced labour in Germany. Aged 16, Mikhailichenko was arrested for robbery by the
Gestapo and sent to the concentration camp Buchenwald in the 8th children's block, where 300 children aged 10 to 17 years were imprisoned. In January 1945, a 7-year-old Polish Jew,
Yurchik (Lyolik), arrived to Buchenwald and Mikhailichenko, at the time only 18 years old, helped him to survive by stealing potatoes from the Germans to feed the young boy. After the liberation of Buchenwald (April 11, 1945), the American administration did not allow Fedor to adopt Yurchik, and the two would never meet again. ==After the War==