While reading thru my social media accounts I saw a post by a friend who had innocently forwarded another person’s post about Ukraine. The post was filled with inaccurate and false information, either a malicious attempt to hit political nerves or out of ignorance. My friend stated that she wished she knew more about Ukraine, which got me wondering about how many Americans may be unfamiliar with the Country of Ukraine beyond the news coverage of the current war. My friend’s post was innocently shared but it upset me personally and so I responded to her via a private message sharing what I know. She thanked me. It made me realize that my friend was probably not alone sifting through the quagmire of information circulating on the internet. This got me thinking about what I could do to help people understand the world wide relevance and our connection to Ukraine. Hence this post.

My maternal grandparents were children of Ukraine. In 1913 and 1929 my grandparents immigrated separately from Western Ukraine to Ellis Island as adults; they later met, married and lived the rest of their lives in Chicago. My mother was their only child; she began life speaking Ukrainian later learning English in school. My grandfather was 16 years older than my grandmother, educated, was bi-lingual and became a US Citizen. He was a tool & die maker and a watch repairman who remained employed during the Great Depression. My grandparents purchased their two-flat Chicago home in the 1930’s. I never got to meet my grandfather, he died at age 51 from lung cancer when my mother was a child. During my childhood our family spent four years living with my grandmother in her inner-city Chicago neighborhood that included other Ukrainian families. After my parents purchased their suburban home, we would come back into the city for Sunday family dinner at grandma’s house. So, topics around Ukraine are near and dear to my heart and very much on my radar. I have previously posted about my grandparents and my mother in my blog, susantissot.com (May 17, 2020 post, Missed Opportunity: What I Wished I Knew and July 4, 2021 post, Thinking About Independence Day and my Immigrant Grandparents).

Why the concern about Ukraine’s children? Most recently, America’s 47^th president, Donald J. Trump, withdrew our support from Ukraine in favor of strengthening his relationship with Russia. Not only has this action weakened Ukraine’s defenses, Trump has carelessly turned his back on the 7.5 million children of Ukraine who are the most vulnerable and directly impacted. The question I have begs to ask, “Have you no decency sir?” Understanding this tragedy and its relevance to the USA is complicated by the fact that many American’s are not familiar with Ukraine, its strategic geography, the country’s huge landmass (second largest country in Europe, 233,062 sq. miles, 2.5 times the size of the UK, almost the size of Texas), Ukraine’s long time history with war aggressors and the culture of Ukraine’s people and their contributions to the world. Ukraine is not only a huge contributor to worldwide agriculture (labeled the Breadbasket of Europe), it is also rich in minerals, oil, and is the gateway to Europe. Ukraine is not a small, unsophisticated or insignificant spot in the road. Because of its resources and location, Ukraine has a long history as a war-torn country, with conquests by the Mongols, Lithuanians and Poles, Russia, the Soviet Union, and Nazi Germany. Most recently, they are defending themselves from unprovoked aggression by Russia in 2014 when they invaded Crimea and the 2022 Russian full-scale invasion, which started the war that continues today. Republican idol, former President Ronald Reagan, must be rolling over in his grave by Trump’s and some of our Congressmen and women’s admiration of the USA’s long time Russian enemy and its ex-KGB leader Vladimir Putin. I am sure Trump’s willingness to befriend Russia has my Ukrainian grandparents rolling over in their graves as well.

My grandmother took great pride in living in the United States with all of its opportunities. In eastern Europe she never got the opportunity to get an education. She was illiterate in terms of reading & writing, but could speak and understand four languages. I grew up repeatedly hearing her mantra, “Be happy you live in the USA and get an education.” She did not want to revisit the past or have us learn the language. She would not talk about her experiences in the Ukraine except for a few isolated examples that she used to influence our childhood behavior. She never returned to visit Ukraine. This was her method of protecting her family, sparing us from the pain and horrific experiences she lived through in eastern Europe.

My grandmother was a survivor, she was abandoned on the streets of Western Ukraine at the age of 4 to fend for herself. This happened in 1915 when many Ukrainians were struggling economically and with food security. At a family meal, my sister and I were fussing at the dinner table and she shared her experience as a starving small child who stole carrots from a woman’s garden. The woman caught her and made her work off the value of the carrots. My mother was sure that while a child of Ukraine, my grandmother was sexually and physically abused. My grandmother silently carried her generational trauma throughout her life.

As children, when we lived with her, we never went anywhere without her as our self-appointed bodyguard. She watched over us as we played in the park, she walked us back and forth to school and monitored the scene when we played Hopscotch or rode our bikes on the sidewalk while she sat on the front steps watching us. In 1985 when she unexpectedly died in her kitchen, the Illinois State Police notified my mother via a Canadian cousin. My grandmother proudly displayed our family photographs around her home, but she never told her neighbors exactly where we lived. Just that we had moved to the West Coast. Only once did she leave her two-flat in Chicago to fly west to visit us. She was afraid to travel for fear of a multitude of reasons. Her neighborhood had a high crime rate. Because my grandmother was illiterate, she only had a green card and was never able to naturalize because she could not take the test. She was afraid to leave the country for fear that immigration would not let her back into the states. She lived in America for 56 years.

All this has me wondering if and how America’s extremely wealthy have responded to the crisis in Ukraine. I recently found an article discussing the generous assistance that Howard Buffet, son of Warren Buffet, has given to Ukraine. H. Buffet has stated that he recognized the seriousness of the war on Ukraine and the potential impacts to Europe and the USA. He personally visited the war zone and to date their family foundation has given $900 million in donations to help Ukraine.

Action Items: what can you do?

Educate yourself. If you want to understand more about the perseverance and struggles of Ukraine during WWI and WWII two well written historical fiction reads by second generation Ukrainian-American author Erin Litteken are a great place to start. Erin weaves historical research and life experiences told by her Ukrainian relatives into her two books, The Memory Keeper of Kyiv, and The Lost Daughters of Ukraine. Erin is excellent at character development and her books help put history into context with the human struggle.

Donate your time or money. If you are looking for an impactful way to support Ukraine either financially or by volunteering: The Common Man for Ukraine project would be an excellent choice. This grassroots, volunteer run organization was started in 2022 by two New Hampshire couples and is proof that individuals can make a difference.  A co-founder who ran a successful restaurant, personally made the first donation of one million dollars and the group partners with Rotary Clubs in the USA, Poland, and Ukraine to distribute food and other supplies across Ukraine. Ukraine’s most vulnerable are its children and Russian war efforts purposely target them either with bombings or by kidnapping tens of thousands of children and relocating them to Russia for re-education and recruitment into Russia’s army. Ukraine’s 7.5 million children are impacted by this political travesty. To date, Common Man has raised and distributed 4 million dollars in support of Ukraine’s children. Their current goal is to raise 10 million, the majority of which is spent on purchasing and delivering much needed supplies. Only a couple of Ukrainian teachers and counselors are paid tiny stipends to work with the displaced, traumatized children, many of which have lost their fathers and are strategically hidden in orphanages and safe houses. To date, Common Man has delivered 3 million pounds of food, 10,000 sleeping bags, 100’s of generators and provided trauma counseling for over 900 children. If you would like to learn more about their efforts, how they are making a difference for the children of Ukraine, and how you can support this effort, please visit, CommonManforUkraine.org.

Talk to your friends and family. Ukraine is much more than its resources, beautiful embroidery, Pysanky (famous decorated eggs) and tasty pierogis. Depending on which statistics you review, reports show that there are 40+ million people who call Ukraine home with a GDP of $685 billion. Again, this is not some backwater, spot in the road. Ukraine is fighting a war that the Russians started in 2022. Just as they have had to do throughout their past, they are fighting for their lives and their independence. Something we should be able to relate to given the huge popularity of America’s 4^th of July celebrations.

War comes with some very real impacts including generational trauma such as fear, food insecurity, depression, isolation, not to mention personal loss of family members. My own mother had issues with food, anxiety and being labeled a D.P. or displaced person and she grew up relatively comfortably in the USA. Events from the past and current traumas impact future generations. The children of Ukraine are experiencing and paying the price for the costs of the war. According to the 2021 US Census, there are 1,017,586 Americans of Ukrainian descent. Obviously that number is larger today. The USA Ukrainian population is the second largest outside of eastern Europe; Canada having the larger population. To add salt to the wound, Trump cut off satellite communications for Ukrainian field operations and stated this week his idea of deporting the 240,000 Ukrainians who legally went through the US Immigration procedure, paid the $2K per person fees and gained refuge in America during the current war. These are additional cruel and unconscionable actions. From a business perspective, a number of United States corporations have operations in Ukraine including Google, Microsoft, Uber, Boeing and more. Personally, I only know Ukraine from stories, books and photographs. I have not yet had the opportunity to see the country where my mother’s family comes from. I hope to visit this beautiful country someday. My heart goes out to all the Children of Ukraine. They are the innocent victims in this tragedy and are Ukraine’s future. #childrenofukraine #ukraine #erinlitteken #uncommonmanforukraine #russianwar #russianagression #istandwithukraine #ukrainianheritage #americanukrainians #americanaid #seedsofhope #peace #donate #mentalhealthmatters #slavaukraini