Standing Strong

February 24, 2023 3:51 PM

Standing Strong

We fly a Ukrainian flag outside of our house. It was a gift from my dad as a show of support for the country my grandfather came from. So many Northeast Ohioans have shown they are standing with Ukraine in the war against Russia, which was ongoing at press time in mid-December. Ohio has the fifth largest Ukranian population in the U.S., and more than a third live in Northeast Ohio.

This issue announces the winners of our 330 Flavor Awards and our editors’ picks for restaurants with great atmospheres, including Olesia’s Taverne of Richfield. I interviewed owner and chef Olesia Pochynok about her sophisticated restaurant, which serves cuisine that reflects her roots growing up on a small farm in Ukraine. Olesia’s hosted a fundraiser for Ukrainian relief efforts and raised a whopping $20,000.

I rejoice Ukrainian Americans and others living in the U.S. have the freedom to help those fighting the war and can freely show support without fear.

It wasn’t always like that. Between the famine and World War II, my grandfather, who his family called “Tata,” endured atrocities that left him with pain and fear for safety when he came to the U.S., say his sons. My father and uncles didn’t speak Ukrainian or go to Ukrainian school, and Tata made the choice to leave the past and focus on creating new lives for his family as Americans.

Tata grew up in his family’s farmhouse with a straw roof in Ukraine. In the early 1930s, Ukrainians, including his family, endured the Holodomor, a manmade famine in which Russia took control of Ukrainian farms and seized grains, food and livestock in a genocide that left about 4 million dead, according to Vox. In 1941 during World War II, Tata had to leave his family and home and endured forced slave labor at a labor camp in Regensburg, Germany. He had great faith and found the will to survive over three years of suffering, forced to work while being cold and hungry.

Near the end of the war, Tata was labeled a “displaced person” and had about four more years of his life robbed, being stuck in refugee camps until 1948. Without knowing if his parents or brothers survived the war and facing the harrowing prospect of returning to Soviet-controlled Ukraine, Tata wrote on his displaced person card that his desired destination was “not to go home – U.S.A.” After being forced into labor for years and getting ripped from his family, home and culture, he longed for freedom. His relative and the National Catholic Welfare Conference sponsored him, and he resettled in Cleveland. He later learned that his brothers and father were among about 8 million Ukrainians killed around the time of the war.

The day he became an American citizen was one of his proudest. Tata always flew an American flag and celebrated the Fourth of July, even if all he could afford was lighting road flares. He lived with physical and mental wounds from the war but found happiness and raised a family in freedom.

Tata died before I could meet him, and I will never be able to fathom the strength it took to survive the war. I’m so grateful for the sacrifice Tata made, and if it wasn’t for his bravery to choose freedom, I might not be here. His story taught me to be Ukrainian is to be a fighter and stand up against all odds. The current war began with many underestimating Ukrainians, but they have shown dogged resilience, brute determination and incredible will in fighting for freedom.

When I see all of the homes, businesses, utility poles and cars displaying Ukrainian flags, I rejoice that after all of these years the fear of retaliation and persecution has faded and we have the freedom to express our heritage and support. It’s also been amazing to watch my husband help with relief efforts through his job at MedWish International, which has helped send about 147,000 pounds of medical and humanitarian supplies and equipment to Ukraine. As the war reaches almost a year, consider frequenting a Ukrainian American business like Olesia’s, volunteering, donating or displaying blue and yellow in solidarity with descendants here and a country that has fought so hard for so long.

Standing Strong

Support Ukraine through these Northeast Ohio organizations offering aid:

Cleveland Maidan Association

Bethany United Church of Christ

Brook of Hope

Urgent Ukraine