I am working to transcribe, edit and publish my grandmother’s autobiography.  Fortunately, I have recordings of her reading the text.  Much of her English is broken, and the writing is difficult to understand, but I _can_ understand her speech easily.  I’ll add chapters here when I get done transcribing them.  I plan to edit the text, but for now you’ll have to live with the somewhat disjointed unedited notes.

Feburary 2006

I am not a writer, but I will try to put on paper way back what I can remember.  It is hard to remember exactly days months or years because many years went by, and I am not so young any more, and my brain is not as sharp like a young person’s.  After I finish writing on March 2008 I was thinking that some of my grandchildren might have trouble reading my handwriting.  I found out about digital voice recorders, and talked to Bryan about (getting one).  Bryan brought me a computer and showed me what to do, and now I am in business.

I am writing on paper my child years October 1939 to April 1944 when Red Army and later German occupied village and August 1944 to February 1952 in Germany and February 1952 to present in Milwaukee Wisconsin.  Now I will start about my life and my memory.

My name is Daria.  I am a mother, grandmother and great grandmother.   The kids call me Baba.  I have three children, nine grandchildren, six great grandchildren and seven on the way.  Jimmy is the oldest and he was born in Ukraine.  He is married to Julie, they have three boys, Michael, Charles and Andrew.  They also have one granddaughter Elizabeth.  Oksana is from second marriage, she is married to Dave.  They have three kids Tamara, Matthew and Michael.  Tammy is married to Scott and they have Aryanna, Natalia and Alex.  Matthew is married to Alicia and they have Coral.  Michael is married to Ellen and they have Henrick, and another (baby) on the way.  Olie was born in Milwaukee.  She is married to Greg.  They have Bryan, Heather and Morgan.  Heather was married to Mark June 15,2007.  The other two are still at school.  I love my bunch very much and miss them because they are all over, and I can’t see them very often.  When I feel lousy, I think about all of them and thank God for my family.  They are all that I have here and I keep pushing for them.

When our children were small we did not talk about life in Ukraine because they wouldn’t understand.  And when they grow up everyone went a different way and there wasn’t time anymore (to talk about it).  Now I try to write on paper about all I can remember and maybe this will help you to appreciate and cherish your life.  In general life is too short and pass fast.  I am 82 years old and don’t know where these years have gone.

I will start with your father your fathers name was Konstantyn and his father’s name was Ivan.  He was engineer and worked on the railroad  He was married and had four children.  His wife died young and he married your grandmother Daria and had four more children.  Tata’s life wasn’t happy.  When he needed his father the most he wasn’t there.  He died in 1942 from hunger.  When the war started in 1939 it was harder, tata cheat and try everything to help mother and younger kids to survive.  Tata was taken by the Red Army in 1944 and when he came to West Ukraine, he deserted and tried to get to German territory.  He was caught and was digging a grave to be buried.  Later it happened again.  Tata signed up for the Ukrainian army that was fighting with the Germans against Communism.  After the war finished in May 1945 Tata was working an airport in the kitchen for the American army.  About Tata’s mother I don’t know much.  She was born in village, has big family, got married and took care of kids, she was 88 years old when she died.

Now a short story about me.  Person was born in Starikuty, grow up here, get married here, raise children and die here.  It wasn’t any vacation or honeymoon.  Father was a head of the  family and every one obey, there wasn’t any back talk even if you didn’t like it.  When you get married you stay with your parents, until you build your own house.  When you disobey Father woop son and mother daughter’s behind.  Children was taught to honor and obey their parents and old people.  You wouldn’t dare to bring shame on your parents and family.  There wasn’t any divorce because you was married at church, not a court.  When a girl got married, make love that night was taboo.  She have to go to church next day and priest would pray and bless her that she be a woman now.  After she make love, both sides parents came and check sheets to see if she was a virgin.  If she was everyone was happy, and parents put flowers on windows and door outside.  If the girl had slept with guys before marriage, it was an argument and he would call her bad names the rest of their life.

About Dedik (Baba’s father).  He was mayor for eleven years before war started in 1939 when Red Army came to village he was capitalist and enemy.  Didyk was from a rich family and he had two sisters Olena and Odokiya.  When Didyk was 20 years old he went to Ukrainian army called Sichowi Striti and they were fighting against communism.  Because Didyk was educated his rank was lieutenant something and he had 100 young boys under him.  It was revolution in 1917.  Lenin and Trotsky promised farmers good life and plenty of land.  People did not know all this talk was a lie and went for this because it sounded good.  All this was happening in East Ukraine.  Many soldiers that was fighting from East and West Ukraine against the Red Army got sick with cholera, typhus, dysentery and malaria, and many of them died.  Didyk did get abdominal typhus and malaria.  After revolution and war was over and communism took over all land, he went to Kolhosp Collective.  From people that have more land was taken from them, and people were sent to Siberia.  I don’t remember everything, but England was involved and after war finish, East Ukraine was given to Russian Communism, West Ukraine to Poland, some parts to Romania and some to Hungary.  Before war West Ukraine belong to Austria and was called Galicia.  When Poland took over it was called Malopolska and in Hungary Transkarpatian.

Babsi was from a big and rich family.  She had five brothers and one sister Olena.  Three brothers went to Canada, one stayed in Starikuty, and Stefan went to Ternopil, got married there and stayed with his wife’s family.  Babsi’s mother’s name was Paraska and father was Olexsa.  My grandpa died young from asthma.  My grandma lived with us for few years and she went to Olena and stayed with her for a while.  She decided to go visit her son in Ternopil and she died over there.  She was 74 years old.  Ternopil is 286 kilometers from Kuty.  Babsi’s first child died two days after he was born, and it was me and brother Yaroslav and second Wolodymyr.  Babsi’s sister Olena was married and her husband was a shoe maker.  They have two children, Slawko and Slawka.  They were living in New Jersey.  Parents and Slawka passed away.

Jimmy biological father was named Ivan.  His father was named Mytro and mother Julia, he had seven sisters and he was the youngest.  Sister names were Kateryna, Maria, Stefania, Julia, Euhenia, Mychalina, and Petrunela.  Kateryna died young and Euhenia was raising her child Tekla.  Tekla lives now in Lviv (Lwiw?).  Her husband passed away but she is still alive. Mychalina’s daughters wer Iryna and Manusia.  These two live now in Kuty.  Ivan’s mother has a brother and sister and they were living in Gzabie (Zhabia).  All of them live well and have good jobs.  By now all old people are dead and young one’s are all over.

I finish with Prelude and now I will start with my childhood and what I stil remember.  I don’t remember old house where I was born.  I was about 3 years old.  I wore pink dress with big tasels and I play with them.  Second time I was crying and screaming, Didyk was running down the street I ran after him and Babsi after me.  I did not want Didyk to leave the house.  Later on I ask Babsi, and she told me it was a commotion like this almost every day.  I remember Didyk used to play with me.  He put me on his belly and bounce me up.  I was laughing and screaming like crazy.  Didyk loved me very much—I was his girl.  In 1927, Didyk and Babsi were building a new house and our house was the biggest and prettiest in all the village.  I was five when I went to school.  My teacher was very nice, she was chubby with grey hair and I liked her.  When I was 12 I sang in a choir and danced.  I had a very strong alto voice.  The other girl my age has strong voice too.  The choir did not sing every Sunday, sometimes all church sing together.  We tried to see who is stronger, and I beat her, but there weren’t bad feelings because we were friends.  In village, we have two churches and one priest and one young deacon who taught catechism at school.  The government paid the priest and he had a beautiful house, land, horse and buggy and maids.  Priests in Ukraine were Eastern Rites Catholics and they belong to Rome.  But they were married and had children.  People pay priest only for wedding, baptism or funeral.  If someone did not have money, they would work in the house or the land.  Way back Didyk was working as secretary then as book keeper, and eleven years before war startedas mayor.  He was a good man and people trusted him and liked him.  I had two brothers Yaroslav and Wolodymyr and I loved them but if my mama wasn’t home, I was a boss and they had to obey me.  My youngest brother Wolodymyr was very talented.  He could pick up an instrument, practice 10 to 15 minutes and play well.  Babsi took care of us with cooking and doing what had to be done.  We had one cow, one pig, one goat, a few bunnies and a few chicken.  When Babsi milked a cow, three of us stay there and Babsi squeezed the milk into our cups.  We drank and it tasted good.  People in the village were honest and worked hard.  Some were rich, some were middle and some poor.  People who can afford children would have two or three.  Poor had five or eight.  There wasn’t any welfare or organization to help in winter time, one child go outside and play, come in the house and took off the clothes that the other child put on to go outside and so on.  There weren’t enough clothes for every one.

Polish government and some people were very nasty to farmers.  They called them stupid, pigs, animals and everything else.  It was hard but people tried their best and worked hard.  If some man would promise to do something, or give something and shake hand, they would rather lose a hand than be called a liar.  Word of honor was very important.

In city of Kuty, the population was over 10,000.  Here lived Ukrainians, Polish, Jewish and a few Armenians.  Jewish people have stores with clothing and other items.  In Starikuty it was also over 10000 people and they was working on the land.  In winter time, some women would make covers called kalen to decorate the walls and floor.  We also had a few houses where gypsy used to live.  Women would go around and tell people their future, and man was stilling (stealing??)

In the summer time people worked on the land and in the fall man and all the children would pick up fruit from the tree and leave some at home for the winter and the rest pack on the buggy and drive about 100 miles to places where people don’t have fruit tree and exchange them for whole wheat and oats.  Man also killed pig and made bacon sausage and lard.  Women canned cabbage, pickles, vegetables and fruit in jars and barrels.  It was nothing like being able to just buy at a store. They also made oil from nuts, sunflower and pumpkin seeds and marijuana (hemp???).  Marijuana grew all over those days  and nobody knew that you can smoke the leaves.  From the branches people make heavy linen and ropes.  In village there wasn’t any electricity or gas, and candles were in use.  On the side of the house, people would build small cup and put their meat, sausage and bacon to be smoked and after they put them up in the attic for the winter.  Old houses were divided by a small hole in the middle.  On the right side was a large room. Inside was built a large oven to cook and bake.  Large bed, large table and benches, shelves for dishes, and holy pictures were hanging on the wall in the corner.  Behind this room was a smaller room called a Komora.  Here was stored milk, cheese and butter, and these were preserved with some other products.  Everything in the room stayed cold and fresh without refrigerator.  On left side was also a large room and this one was kept clean.  If a relative would vist, they would stay there or if somebody in family died they would lay there and old grandmas would pray for their soul to go to heaven and on the third day he or she was buried.  There weren’t any funeral homes.

Around the house in the front were benches and after supper the older people sat down to talk.   The young people went to special places on the street and started singing.  Then on the other street a song would start and pretty soon the whole village was singing.  In winter time young kids and teens go sledding or skiing.  I remember one night boys get large sled.  They were wearing new boots and asked me to sit on the front and slide down.  Two kids went on back and me on front and down we go, we were screaming and laughing.  We past Didyk house and it was small curve and I lost control and everyone flew into the snow.  We laughed a lot and had fun.  Didyk was hunting for rabbits and a few times he took me, but I didn’t like it.  You had to sit very quiet for long times.  One time my dad took me to a place called Polonyna.   Its few men here would take cows and sheep in the spring and bring them back in the fall.  These men took care of the animals and from the milk they made cheese and bryndzia—it tastes like feta.  First we were sitting in the buggy and we started to get up to hill higher and higher and the horses weren’t able to pull the buggy.  We sat on the horses back.  I was scared, but a man was holding my horse so it was ok.  The hill was very tall and the horses had to walk criss cross.  I don’t remember how long it took before we reached the top.  On top one place, the sun was shining, you move further and you stay in the clouds and it is raining and then the sun again.  On top there was a big cabin and people that worked there gave us food.  Walking around I felt like I was in heaven.  It was an experience that stayed with me my whole life.  I don’t remember how long we stayed there or how we came back down.