Dear Oksana,

I happened on your sad but beautiful grandmother's story..

It reminded me of my asking my late father questions about his life in his town, that was sometimes Russian, other times Poland, then Lithuania. I couldn't understand that until now.

I knew that he was terminally ill, so I had to ask before it was too late. He died in 1973.

He was 13, (in 1913), & clerking as an apprentice in Moscow. The Germans kidnapped him to a German slave camp. He slaved there for 6 years.

When released he went home. His mother & family NEVER knew if he was living or dead.

When the Cossacks heard a young man was of age, he was constricted to serve on the front lines.

Hearing this he "Miraculously " escaped on a ship to America, where he had 2 brothers. The year was 1919.

Did anyone know of this other slavery era horror?

Perhaps the story of German Slave camps was history not told.

Thank you dear for your story as stirred my heart.

💚P.S. My maternal family was from beautiful Odessa..