• 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
  • Our Travellers
  • Article Library
  • Digital Nomad & Travelling Pet Gear Guide
  • Naturally Ours, Web Series
  • Podcasts
  • Contact Us
  • Show Search
Hide Search

My Mom’s Choice: Slave Labour on a Kolkhozes and Leaving Ukraine all on her Own – Part 8 of My Ukrainian Heritage

Facing the choice of slave labour on a kolkhozes and leaving Ukraine all on her own, Laryssa’s mom began her life as a Ukrainian refugee.

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: Conscripted! Siberian Worker’s Army to World War II Soldier
  • Part 5: Loss of Family. Leaving Ukraine for Survival
  • Part 6: Father and Sons Reunited After 50 Years
  • Part 7: My Mom’s Childhood Ended with the German Occupation

Part 8 of My Ukrainian Heritage: My Mom’s Choice: Slave Labour on a Kolkhozes and Leaving Ukraine all on her Own

Faced with the horrendous possibility of being forcibly taken to Germany to work on kolkhozes as slave labour, Olyana made the painful decision to leave Ukraine. Alone and frightened she began her journey, this time traveling mostly on freight cars and sometimes by horse and wagon, and largely surviving on food she had brought along. Ultimately she arrived in Bregenz, Austria, and she was amazed at how far she had come. 

On the road with an Austrian soldier in WWII. Public Domain image, care of Finnmark Fylkesbibliotek.

She stayed there for four years, making a life for herself and working in a textile factory. She spoke about how kind the Austrian people were, often even inviting her in for a meal as she walked home from work. During this time her older brother and his new wife came to live there as well, and she was able to find out about other members of her family.  

In 1946, Olyana left Austria along with her brother and his wife. They had heard of opportunities to settle with other displaced Ukrainians, and so they made their way to Germany. They arrived in Hamburg to find much of it in ruins, but they found a place to stay in a lager, a displaced persons camp created for refugees after the war. 

Refugees in Berlin in 1945, care of the German Federal Archives.

It was at this lager that my mother met my father. They got whatever work they could in Hamburg, and there were relief organizations to help look after their needs at the lager.

A year later they signed up to immigrate to England, and in 1948 they were married there. Olyana created a new life with my father, and a couple of years later my sister was born. Then in 1953 they immigrated to Canada and two years later I was born.

Mikhail and Lena arm in arm
Mom and Dad

My mother never knew what happened to most of her family in Ukraine. She did write letters to her brother Leontiv who had moved to Boston, Massachusetts, but because we lived on the other side of the continent she did not see him in person again. 

My mother lived to be 93. She had survived through so much turmoil in her life, but she never spoke much about it. And once she had settled in Canada, she never had any desire to travel again.


Read Other ‘My Ukrainian Heritage’ Diary Entries

Tune in monthly for the next diary entry.

  • Part 9: Becoming a Proud Ukrainian as a Child of Immigrants to Canada

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

Written by:
Laryssa Menkova
Published on:
October 24, 2022
Thoughts:
No comments yet

Categories: All Aboard!, Around the World, Austria, Canada, England, Europe, Germany, History, Laryssa Menkova, My Ukrainian Heritage, Our Travelers, The Red Boot Diaries, Ukraine

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.

Join the Adventure On …

RSS Feed Directory

Lollygag Over Adventures to Be




Recent Adventures

Harbour View on the Island country of Grenada in the Caribbean Sea.

Pure Grenada Wellness

April 8, 2025 by Diana Ballon

Lycia, Türkiye – Where the Dead are Always with Us

March 29, 2025 by Liz Campbell

Fishermen hunting at sea with a spear.

The Last Kereks: A Story of Tradition and Survival in the Far North Russia

March 5, 2025 by Katerina Mukhina

Cape Forchu Lighthouse, near Yarmouth, Nova Scotia on the Acadian Shores

Where to Stay in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia and the Acadian Shores

January 14, 2025 by Erica Hargreave

A young aviation lover poises into front of a Canadian Armed Forces Jet at the Canadian Museum of Flight

Canadian Museum of Flight : a hidden gem in Aviation

January 7, 2025 by Anne Webster

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)

Feedspot Top Canada Travel Blog

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 © 2025 · Genesis Framework by StudioPress · · Log in