Recent Exodus Of Ukrainian Refugees Was Deja Vu From 75 Years Ago

The massive exodus of people from Ukraine caused by the Russian invasion last year had a striking similarity to what happened there to my family 75 years ago at the end of World War II.

One day in the fall of 1939, my mother Solomea and my aunt Olena were sitting on the sidewalk outside their building in Lviv, in the western Galician region of Ukraine. My grandfather Julian and my grandmother Maria were upstairs in the building with my uncle Les’ko. On the street, a man pulling a cart loaded with sugar stopped in front of the building to ask the two young women if they wanted to buy some. Uncertain, they looked at one another, hesitated for a moment, and then answered no. He moved on. That was the last time anyone in my family had open access to sugar for the next six years. In the days that followed, their lives were disrupted by World War II and ultimately they were driven out of their country forever.

My family’s immigrant experience is shared in my book Solomea: Star of Opera’s Golden Age, which is about to be published this week. The book is about the life of our great aunt, Solomea Krushelnytska, who was the world’s leading female opera star in the first decade of the 20th century. My mother who was Solomea’s niece and shared the same name was one of two children in the Drozdowsky family who fled Lviv at the end of the war. In the edited excerpt from the book that I have included here, I write about the final months of World War II, my family’s escape from Ukraine and their immigration to North America.

Stalingrad Surrender

“In late January 1943, German Field Marshal Friedrich Von Paulus, a grey-stubbled commander of the Sixth Army, surrendered to the Red Army at Stalingrad after his army had been surrounded. The great battle of Stalingrad was over. The turning point in World War II had been reached. In the months that followed, the war front moved steadily westward back toward Germany through Ukraine.

By June 1944, the population of Lviv saw a steady stream of military transports, and increasingly gloomy German faces headed westwards daily. The evacuation of the German administration and population had commenced.

Existential Problems

The incoming Soviet army brought existential problems with them. Earlier in the war, the Soviets had killed my uncle Les’ko and arrested my grandfather, who was lucky to have escaped. For these reasons, my family was among the one hundred thousand Ukrainians to join a mass exodus westward as the Soviets approached Lviv. This was not to support the Germans, since their treatment of Ukrainians during their occupation showed they were no better than the Soviets, but simply to escape the Soviet incoming threat. After experiencing the barbaric deeds of the NKVD (Soviet secret police), which included the slaughter of some ten thousand members of the Ukrainian intelligentsia in Galicia, my family was at risk. They would have to flee to save their lives. Like thousands of others, they would have to start elsewhere with nothing and live their lives in the chaotic circumstances of war-torn Europe. If they were lucky, they hoped to find peace somewhere until life was restored to normal and they could return home. At least, that is what they thought.

Family Debates

Before they left, my family met with our great aunt Solomea debating their options with heart-wrenching anguish. There was no certainty to life as a refugee and no guarantee of a better life. These life-and-death questions were debated thoroughly in almost every Galician household in the final days of the German presence in Lviv. In the end, nothing was clear, and no choice perfect. My family’s choice was to leave. But what about our great aunt? Would Solomea and her other sister Nusia leave to escape the incoming horror? How could Solomea be left behind? Could she not see that life in the Soviet Union for her would be nothing but torment? Why would she not listen to reason? Then again, where would she escape to?

For Solomea It Was Impossible To Leave

Despite all the entreaties from her family, Solomea knew in her heart and mind that it was impossible for her to leave. She was in her seventies. Her broken leg had healed badly, leaving her unsteady on her feet with a wobbly gait and unable to walk any great distances. In addition, she had the responsibility of looking after her younger sister Nusia, who was in no position to travel due to her mental illness. There was also the question of money. Solomea had been stripped of all her possessions, valuables, and money, and barely had enough to scrape by. Moreover, she was exhausted and discouraged. As for remaining, she considered that her international reputation as an opera diva might provide some measure of security. Ironically, her decision to return home to escape fascism in Italy just before World War II broke out had now sealed her fate behind the Iron Curtain.

Exodus From Galicia

Trains for departing Ukrainian residents of Galicia seeking to escape the Red Army were arranged with the German High Command in Krakow, Poland. In July 1944, my grandparents, my mother and my aunt departed on one of those trains after tearful goodbyes with Solomea. They eventually ended up in North America. Solomea’s other sister Emilia left with her family and eventually ended up in Argentina. None of them ever realized their hope of returning to live in their beloved but beleaguered homeland again.

VE Day – The End Of The War

Finally, on May 8th, 1945 Germany surrendered unconditionally. That day, all of Europe and the Allies celebrated Victory in Europe Day. In the case of my family, they celebrated with everyone else knowing their anguish was finally over.

Parallel Experiences Today

It is hard to say how the current Russian war in Ukraine will end. The story of those forced to leave Ukraine in the last year is eerily familiar to the immigrant experience of my family 75 years ago. One day they were living ordinary lives. The next day their lives were filled with trauma, anguish, loss, pain, death and terror. The Russian invasion today was like the Soviet invasion then – it presented an existential threat. Like then, when Russia invaded Ukraine families hotly debated what to do and what options to take. Like then, thousands of people were forced to immigrate and eventually come here. Immigration turned out to be their salvation. With their arrival on our shores they have become part of our history and their experience has helped to shape the role we are now playing in the world today.

For more information about my book click here.