• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Roamancing Travel Magazine

... travelling in search of those most elusive of creatures ~ love and romance

  • Home
  • Roamancing
  • Article Library
  • Naturally Ours, Web Series
  • Podcasts
  • Contact Us
  • Show Search
Hide Search
Women and children feeling Ukraine on foot through the snow in World War II with only what they could carry, as building smoke in the background.

My Ukrainian Heritage – Part 1: I Grew Up Hearing My Parent’s Stories of Fleeing Ukraine in the Second World War

Listen to Laryssa ’s reading of her My Ukrainian Heritage diary ‘I Grew Up Hearing My Parent’s Stories of Fleeing Ukraine in the Second World War’ by clicking the grey play arrow below:


My parents are from Ukraine. They fled during the Second World War in circumstances eerily similar to what is happening there today.

Ukrainian woman carries a man on her back, away from a smoking building in the Second World War.
Fleeing the battlefield in the Second World War in Ukraine. Image care of the United Nations Development Programme in Ukraine via Flickr.

These days people around the world are learning about Ukraine from news broadcasts about the tragic events currently unfolding there, but all through my life I heard about Ukraine from my parents. From an early age I heard their incredible harrowing stories of survival and escape from a war-torn country – stories that now seem far more real as I view the horrific images on CNN. History is repeating itself.

Evacuating Ukraine in World War II. Image care of the United Nations Development Programme in Ukraine via Flickr.

Mariupol, Kharkiv, Kiev, Donbas – these are some of the places I often heard about as I was growing up, mostly from my father, as my mother was less forthcoming with details. That too now seems more understandable, as I see traumatised Ukrainian women refugees on the news.

A long line of people (predominantly women and children) walk across the border from Ukraine to Poland, clad in winter gear and pulling suitcases, in March 2022..
Ukrainian refugees crossing into Poland in 2022. Image care of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine via Wikimedia Commons.

I am very glad that as a young adult, I interviewed both of my parents and learned even more details about their lives in Ukraine. Then in 1995, my sister and I traveled to Ukraine and we saw first-hand some of the places from their stories. I am so thankful to have gone when I did, but it is so heartbreaking to see the devastation there now, especially in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions where we spent a good deal of time visiting with our relatives.

Writer's immediate and some of her extended family in Ukraine, wearing a mixture of Polish attire and Western clothing..
My immediate and some of our extended family in Ukraine.

In this blog series on my Ukrainian Heritage, I plan to share diary entries on parts of my parents’ lives in Ukraine, my trip to Ukraine, and my feelings about being a child of immigrant Ukrainian parents, paired with my reflections on the current realities of Russia’s invasion on Ukraine. Tune in next month for the next diary entry.


Tune in Next Month for the Next Diary Entry

Tune in monthly for the next diary entry.

  • Part 2: Fleeing Dekulakization in Early 1930s Russia
  • Part 3: Hiding in Plain Sight from the Dekulakization in Valuyki

Getting Aid to Ukrainian People

For those of you in search of ways to help Ukrainian people at present, one of our friends who has been helping refugees entering Poland has been working with and recommends Fundacja Ocalenie, as they are not just helping the Ukrainian refugees, but the Syrian and Afghan refugees who are stuck in the no man’s land between the Polish-Belarusian border, as well. Not only do they attend to and care for refugees immediate needs of food, clothing and housing, but to their long term needs too of therapy, language training, medicine, and legal assistance. Fundacja Ocalenie is also an organisation recommended by Obama.

March 20, 2022 By Laryssa Menkova Leave a Comment

Filed Under: All Aboard!, Around the World, Europe, History, Laryssa Menkova, My Ukrainian Heritage, Our Travelers, The Red Boot Diaries, Ukraine Tagged With: Russian invasion of Ukraine, Second World War, Ukraine, Ukrainian history, World War II, WWII

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Search Our Site

Roamancing Travel

Travelling the globe uncovering the love & beauty all around us!

We're not your average jet-set crew; we're just as happy to hunker around a campfire as we are to be finely wined & dined, as we roamance travel.

Connect with Us!

  • Bloglovin
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Snapchat
  • TikTok
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Lollygag Over Adventures to Be

Recent Adventures

Airline Communications and Understaffing Key Cause of Air Travel Issues and Delays at Calgary International Airport Before the Stormy Weather This 2022 Holiday Season

December 22, 2022 by Erica Hargreave

Puerto Vallarta, the Third Port on Our Mexican Riviera Cruise

December 10, 2022 by Anne Webster

Becoming a Proud Ukrainian as a Child of Immigrants to Canada – Part 9 of My Ukrainian Heritage

November 27, 2022 by Laryssa Menkova

Road Tripper Beware! Do Not Follow Google Maps Through New Brunswick

November 15, 2022 by Emme Rogers

Mazatlán, the Second Port on Our Mexican Riviera Cruise

November 10, 2022 by Anne Webster

For More Roamancing, Join Our eMagazine

BCIT Media Storytelling Courses

Our Post-Secondary Accredited Courses with BCIT's Media Storytelling Department:

Building Your Digital Media Presence (online)
Social Media Storytelling (online)

Flight Networks Top 100 Canadian Travel Blogs

Explore more

Pitch Us Partner With Us Contact Us

Footer

Produced By …

This is another tale brought to you by the creatively whacky minds at Ahimsa Media.

Copyright © 2011–2023 · From the Creative Minds at Ahimsa Media · Theme by Studio Press · Login