• 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
Labouring as forestry workers in the freezing temperatures of Siberia, as part of a worker's army under the Gulag.

Conscripted! Siberian Worker’s Army to World War II Soldier – Part 4 of My Ukrainian Heritage

Listen to Laryssa’s reading of her My Ukrainian Heritage diary ‘Conscripted! Siberian Worker’s Army to World War II Soldier’ by clicking the grey play arrow below:


Previous ‘My Ukrainian Heritage’ Diary Entries

Catch up on previous diary entries from ’My Ukrainian Heritage’:

  • Part 1: I Grew Up Hearing My Parent’s Stories of Fleeing Ukraine in the Second World War
  • Part 2: Fleeing Dekulakization in Early 1930s Russia
  • Part 3: Hiding in Plain Sight from the Dekulakization in Valuyki

Part 4 of My Ukrainian Heritage: Conscripted! Siberian Worker’s Army to World War II Soldier

During his time in Siberia, Mikhail worked in the forest felling trees and loading lumber, and also as a carpenter. His battalion constructed an entire army town. The work was back-breaking, and it was bitterly cold. 

Embed from Getty Images

After almost two years there, Mikhail was very fortunate to be liberated. He said he was one of only 32 men out of 1200 that were freed at that time. 

Mikhail prepared to leave but this proved to be difficult. Officials initially would not give him documents for travel, but eventually he was able to get a registered train ticket to Donbas. Apparently, sometimes people were known to wait in stations for weeks before being allowed to board trains. 

1935 Freight Engine running between the Donetsk mines to Moscow. (Care of Railway Wonders of the World)

It was now 1935, and Mikhail made his way back to Ukraine. Along the way he visited with his oldest sister Natasha, who he hadn’t seen in about six years. Having only a general idea of where she was living, it was seemingly by pure luck that he found her. After walking for a short while from the train station, he spoke briefly to a lady feeding her geese by the roadside. By sheer coincidence she turned out to be a good friend of his sister’s and was able to give him directions. Following his visit with Natasha, Mikhail made his way to his brother Yuri’s home. He lived with him and his family for a while, and got a job working in a mine. 

Donetsk in the early 20th Century, care of the Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine.

In 1937 he met his first wife Maria, and settled in the Donetsk region. He began working in a different mine, was sent on prestigious courses, and became a foreman. Life was good for Mikhail for the next few years. He had a great paying job, a home, and two sons.

Mikhail, on his motorbike.

That all changed in 1941 when the war began. Mikhail joined the army, and his battlement was one of the first to enter areas of fierce fighting. Many of the soldiers did not want to fight, however, and in their desperation to get away some of them killed the commander. As grenades were raining down on them, my father managed to escape the area along with two other men. 

Embed from Getty Images

 


Stay Tuned For Next Month’s Diary Entry

Tune in next month for Part 5 of the ‘My Ukrainian Heritage’ Series.


Help Get Aid to People in Ukraine

As I write, people in Ukraine are fighting and fleeing from Russian troops, and could use your aid and support.

With a large number of Canadians having immigrated from the Ukraine, there are a number of charities within Canada that are focused on getting aid to Ukraine. Two such organizations, the Canada-Ukraine Foundation and Ukrainian Canadian Congress established a partnership, creating the Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal and a joint Ukrainian Humanitarian Relief Committee (UHRC) to efficiently and cost-effectively deliver crucial humanitarian assistance to Ukraine and Ukrainians displaced to the neighbouring countries by war.

Between December 2022 – March 2023, the work of the UHR Committee will be focused on their Winterization projects ensuring: food security, medicine and medical supplies, surgical missions, care for the elderly, women’s shelter support, emergency shelter support, SOS Children’s Villages Canada support, heat, light, firefighting gear, ambulances, wound treatment, and first aid kits.

Learn More
Help Send Support

June 24, 2022 By Laryssa Menkova Leave a Comment

Filed Under: All Aboard!, Around the World, Europe, History, Laryssa Menkova, My Ukrainian Heritage, Our Travelers, Russia, The Red Boot Diaries, Ukraine Tagged With: Donetsk, HistoryTravels, Russian history, RussianHistory, Siberia, StandWithUkraine, Ukrainian history, World War II

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