My grandmother’s friend, Svetlana Ahijevych, was born in Russia in 1938. She lived with her parents, Mykola and Maria, and her brother in a one-room home. Svetlana recalls the family garden, her mother scrubbing their clothes by the river, and her father working on the farm and working as a carpenter and blacksmith. Their family had a pig, a cow, and chickens. She and her family were servants to a farm. “They were happy times. We had a comfortable living.” Svetlana recalls.
All of that changed in 1942 when Germany invaded Russia when World War Two first started. Soldiers forced the family and all their neighbors onto freight cars to be taken to German work camps. Svetlana was only four years old at the time, but she remembers the night well.
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It smelled bad because there was no place to go to the bathroom-just the straw and they’d shovel it out and put new straw in,” Svetlana remembers, “Sometimes you’d hear guns and they’d stop the train and search.”
The Ahijevyches were housed in barracks, with several families in one room, in a work camp near Hanover, Germany. Svetlana’s family members that were old enough to work were sent to work from early morning to late at night in an ammunition factory. Svetlana and her brother were left alone every day with the other kids too young to work. Svetlana’s brother was so young, that her mother was afraid he would wander off. Maria tied one end of a sheet around his waist and the other around the bed frame so Svetlana could watch over him.
At noon each day, Maria could come back to the barracks and take her two very young kids over to the next building for lunch. The meal was generally turnip or cabbage soup and rarely a piece of bread. It was their one meal of the day. “We were so hungry,” Svetlana said. “There were guards all the time around the camp, but sometimes my mother would try to sneak under the fence into the nearby communities and we would ask people for food. If she had us with her, sometimes they felt sorry for
Marijana Ruzic was 21-year-old Yugoslavian who lived in Belgrade in an apartment with her mother. For many days a man was asking her to for her assistance. The man was asking her to smuggle drugs like heroin in Canada and Ruzic refused. The man was getting impatient with her and threatened her, that he would kill her and her mother if she did not follow his orders. Ruzic still refused and the man stalked her and that eventually lead to violent assaults. The man who was threatening Ruzic was Mirko Mirkovic. Ruzic finally agreed to smuggle drugs and flew to Canada. When she landed in Toronto, she was arrested. She not only importing two kilograms of heroin, but she also used a fake passport to land in Canada. Ruzic accepted both charges against
Anzia Yezierska was born in plonsk in Russia .She immigrated with her family to the United States.She was working during the day at a sweatshop and in the evening she studied English.Than she work teacher for few years.
During the early 20th century in Russia, the country was a tsarist country which was ruled by Tsar Nicholas II. Russia was a vast country who had one of the largest agriculture producer. During that time Russia rely on agricultural as their national income. This peasant country have a population of approximately 127 million people. The rich were very rich and have a comfortable life while the poor was treated unfairly, many people had died because they don’t have enough food.
In 1914 everything changed when the Germans declared war on Russia. After that life wasn’t all super fun. The Tsar was always gone attending to war business. But their lessons weren’t on a super tight schedule, which Anastasia was very pleased about. Everything that had anything to do with Germany was outlawed, St. Petersburg was changed to Petrograd because it sounded German, and they couldn’t play music that was made by German composers. During the war Alexandra made all the not used palaces and mansions into a makeshift hospital for the soldiers. In March of 1917 Nicholas II abdicated in favor of his brother Mikhail Alexandrovitch, but then he abdicated as well, then there was longer a tsar. The Duma then set up a provisional government. That same month the Romanovs were under house arrest. In August 1917 they were moved to Tobolsk, Siberia. While there they weren’t even allowed to leave their fenced in yard, except for early Mass, or else the soldiers that had to stay with them would get very angry because they had “too much freedom”. In April 1918 Alexandra, Nicholas, and Maria went to Ekaterinburg, but the where told they were to go to Moscow. The next month Olga, Tatiana, Anastasia, and Alexei went to meet up with the
Antonin Dvorak was born into a poor family, with a butcher and innkeeper for a father, and had eight other siblings by his side. He and his family grew up with music, his uncles played fiddle, one was even good at trumpet, and his father played the zither, a distant relative of the guitar, but none in the family knew that their own family would have a musical genius in their midst.
Julia Zalewski, the founder of the Polish band, “Polskie Nadzieje” (Polish Hopes), has been an active member of the Polish People’s Home Association. We had patroned the band to perform at our functions as non-profit entertainment, cultivating polish traditions, musically and vocally. Julia’s most recent performance was during the 90th anniversary of the Polish Peoples’ Home Association, where previous presidents and members of the organization, Windsor councillors and politicians, were present. As a community, we are proud of the band, and Julia, as it’s lead performer and founder. We have received many congratulatory letters from members of various Polish organizations, solely for the effect the band brings during our celebrations. It
Author Anna Swirszczynska, born 1909 and died in 1984, was a Polish poet whose poetry included personal experiences such as motherhood, female sexuality and sensuality. Swirszczynska grew up in Warsaw in poverty because her mother was an artist whose work did not get published until the 1930’s. During World War II, Swirszczynska joined the Polish resistance as a military nurse (PoemHunter.com,
In “Neighbor Rosicky” the home of Rosicky’s family is described in detail. It shows the work ethic, manners, and the way their house is run. It is compared to an American house and the traditions are diversely different. The Czech family is happy, works together, and spend lots of time with each other. “A Rose for Emily” has many examples of tradition.
What is better than grabbing your favorite snacks, loved one and a comfy blanket to watch your favorite TV show? Welcome to our list dedicated to the talented women of television. Here is a list of the top 10 highest paid TV actresses in entertainment today. Stay tuned for the second part of this article coming soon!
It was the second week that Edith woke in the horrid concentration camp. The acrid smell of burning bodies did not mix well with the biting cold. At any moment, the guards would arrive, ushering the half-asleep prisoners out of their barracks to start the arduous work day. After what felt like ages, the guards finally arrived, bursting through the doors of the barrack. Edith rushed over to her brother, Shmuel, to wake him up, then to her mother and father before the guards could. The guards herded everyone to the mess hall for breakfast. After they finished scarfing down their cold bread and drank their bitter coffee, it was time to work.
Today in the modern society, the struggles that teenagers experience is whether or not they should wear the cherry or purple lip-gloss to “that” party everyone is going to attend or maybe their cell phone is broken and they simply cannot live without checking what food their friends are eating for dinner. Yet, these struggles seem insignificant when compared to the problems children throughout Russia experienced after the Russian Revolution. During this time period, surviving was a daily struggle for the bezprizorni, orphaned children abandoned on the streets of Russia with little to no food, shelter, and warmth. Many of these individuals looked towards their leaders for guidance and protection during these times of adversity. An example of
Marie Sklodowski was born on November 7, 1867 in Warsaw, Poland. Both of her parents were educators and believed that their daughters should be just as educated as their sons. Marie graduated high school at the age of 15 and was the top of her class. She wished to attend college to study science but was unable to in her home town because the University of Warsaw did not accept women. She was, however, able to enroll at Sorbonne in Paris. In 1893 Marie earned her Master’s degree in physics, and again graduated first in her class. She also earned a degree in mathematics in 1894.
Today, I met Agnieszka Prymicz. She was born on August 28th 1999 in Toronto Canada. Agnieszka comes from a family of 6 children. The elementary school she attended was St Thomas Mor. Her best subject is math but dislikes learning the French language. This summer she experienced one of her happiest memory which is receiving her NLS certificate (National Lifeguarding Society). Besides Swimming she also adores Track and Field and Camping. Which makes sense considering her biggest pet peeve are slow walkers. A sport that she wishes she was better at is Snowboarding. She also would really like to give Scuba Diving a shot. She like a multiple number of bands but her favorite is the Red Hot Chili Peppers which is an Alternative Rock band. She also
Everywhere around the world there are people who strive to make an impact in society and change the way we live. People such as Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, and Eleanor Roosevelt all endeavored and aimed to change society for others. They continuously put the population before themselves in hopes that the challenges will benefit the community. Svetlana Gannushkina was one of those people. Through everything she fought for human rights and for justice, founded organizations and centers for education and help of the needy, and she worked with the government to promote safety and well being for migrants, refugees, and internally displaced people. For these reasons, I believe Svetlana Gannushkina is an admirable woman and an exceptional leader.
Motherhood is a multifaceted role that is looked at in depth in several short stories in There Once Lived a Girl Who Seduced Her Sister’s Husband, and He Hanged Himself. These include the stories “Two Deities” and “Father and Mother.” Motherhood in Russia differs in some ways from motherhood in other countries, especially America. In Russia many mothers not only raise their children, but they also financially support themselves and their family.