This personal account by Mamikon Charmandarian, an Armenian chemical engineer, provides a first-person narrative of civilian experiences during the German occupation of Ukraine from 1942-1943. Drawing from his direct observations and experiences, including his arrest for harboring a Jewish family, Charmandarian employs memoir methodology to document the systematic brutalities perpetrated by both Soviet and Nazi regimes. The narrative reveals how initial civilian reception of German forces as liberators quickly transformed into horror as the true nature of Nazi occupation policies became apparent. The author meticulously details the destruction of infrastructure by retreating Soviet forces, the subsequent famine and harsh winter conditions that killed thousands, and the escalating persecution implemented by the Gestapo. His account provides particular insight into the Holocaust in Ukraine, describing the deportation and murder of approximately 20,000 Jews, as well as the operations of concentration camps. The methodology combines personal testimony with broader social observation to illuminate the experiences of ordinary civilians caught between competing totalitarian systems. Charmandarian's findings demonstrate how both regimes employed terror, denunciation, and systematic violence against civilian populations. This testimony, published posthumously, contributes valuable primary source evidence to Holocaust and World War II scholarship, particularly regarding civilian experiences in occupied Eastern Europe.