Toys in Chernobyl

Probably one of the most wrenching experiences for visitors of the Exclusion Zone is made by toys, left behind by their small owners in abandoned homes and child care facilities. The most common among them are dolls. Faded, battered, dusty, completely irrelevant in this crushed little world, they seem to wait for their masters to come back for them. For example, on a windowsill in “Druzhba” (“Friendship”), someone sat a little baby doll with a mask on its head. These tiny reminders are often photographed to show a bright, simple, understandable- to-all symbol of shattered lives and interrupted childhood.

This article was published in the book Interesting Chernobyl.
You could download this book in PDF file for free here.

© Sky Horse Publishing House (Kyiv) / Nahs Haus, 2019
Copying and publication of this article is possible only with the written permission of the publishing house.
Official website of the Awesome Heritage series: awesomeheritage.com

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