Zalishchyky tragedy. Ukraine's thorny way to independence

Hello everyone everywhere! Today I want to tell you a very serious and tragic story. I don't want my blog to be just entertaining reading but make people think and learn things about the world. My story will tell you about horrible times that my country had to go through on its way to independence. I bet all of you have heard about soviet intelligence service KGB. In all Hollywood action movies, you could see a confrontation between FBI agents and brick-like looking russians with a horrible accent. If there was a villain in a movie most likely he or she was a soviet KGB agent. I can tell you that such a choice was not accidental. The reason behind it was not just the fact of the Cold War. I will try to explain to you why and not bore you too much. To do it I will use a historical event that took place in the town where I have lived for more than 30 years. Soviet KGB was created in 1954, well, not literally created but renamed into KGB. This agency is a successor of such organizations as Cheka (Bolshevik security agency, formed to identify and eradicate counter-revolutionary activity), OGPU (or secret police), NKVD (The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs, the interior ministry of the soviet union) and MGB (ministry of state affairs). All of the above-mentioned organizations and ministries were created to control behavior of soviet people inside the soviet union and to spy after political leaders in other countries. When I say "to control behavior of soviet citizens" I mean the application of all thinkable and unthinkable methods one can imagine. The thing is that after the revolution of 1917 and the fall of the Russian Empire a lot of countries that were forcibly united under the russian tsardom aspired to become independent and gain back their sovereignty. It comprised of Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Finland, the Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia), Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan), the Baltic Republics (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia), and significant parts of Poland and Turkey. All of them dreamt about independence and Ukraine was not an exception. However, the Bolsheviks that overthrown the tsar Nicolas II did not plan to let all these countries go and build their states. On the contrary, they strengthened their grip by creating all these above-mentioned organizations to control and punish those who had different views and beliefs. Ukraine had always fought for its independence, but, unfortunately, either our oppressors were stronger or our allies were cowards and would give up on us. As a result, thousands of Ukrainians ended up in prisons and were either executed or repressed to remote areas of Siberia. One of many tragedies that happened right before World War II flooded the European continent unfolded in the town Zalishchyky. Right before Stalin understood that Hitler was not going to stick to any of their agreements and the soviet-nazi war was about to break out the prisons all over the soviet union were overcrowded with political activists. As of the beginning of June 1941, there were 72 768 prisoners on the premises that were meant for 30 753 detainees. The majority of prisoners in Western Ukraine were people that participated in the movement for liberation and independence and were captured by the red army during raids in the 1939-1940s. Since the soviet authorities were in a rush in June 1941 all prisoners were supposed to be divided into two big groups - those who were supposed to be executed and those who were subject to repressions. 23 236 people were meant to be transported to GULAG camps (the Soviet network of forced labor camps) but the soviets didn't have 778 cargo rail cars and the lightening-fast offensive of the German army turned all this operation into chaos. The "evacuation" of the detainees was fulfilled only in a handful of towns and the majority of prisoners never made it to their destination. The town of Zalishchyky sits on the bank of the river Dnister. Due to the landscape of the canyon both bridges across the river a pretty tall constructions. The railway bridge looks really impressive.

At the beginning of July 1941, this bridge was destroyed by the soviets in fear of quickly approaching German troops. And then to both edges were brought cargo rail cars, 14 on each side with 50-70 prisoners in each of them. They were mostly young people from Bukovyna, Lviv, Ternopil and Ivano-Frankivsk regions. The NKVD officers doused the cars with petrol, set them on fire and pushed them off the ruined bridge ends. Dnister rapids made it impossible for anyone to survive. In Moldovan town of Vadul lui Vodă, miles down the stream, local inhabitants collected bodies of the assassinated whose hands were tied behind with wire. There is a mass grave that commemorates the people and the events of those horrible times. Today, we have our independence back and we can freely talk about the events of the past. People of my town try to remember about those events and crimes of the soviet regime.

A sign pointing in the direction of the commemoration spot for the victims of Zalishchyky tragedy

The cross to commemorate the victims. Every year a special memorial service takes place next to it.

Events like this should always be in human memory because if we remember about them there is chance we will try to prevent them in our future. Stay safe!

How we were making cheese

Hello everyone everywhere! How's your weekend? It's freezing cold here, the temperature dropped to 10.4F and it's windy which makes everything even worse. Days like this are good for sitting at home and cooking something tasty. One of our recent culinary experiments was making cheese! Yes, you read it right - cheese. I don't mean cottage cheese which is relatively easy to make, but that other one )) We decided to start with making string cheese since "soft cheeses" are a bit easier to start with rather than hard cheeses that have to age for a while. As you might know to make any kind of cheese you need to get milk and regular store milk won't work. So on Saturday morning my husband and I went to the local farmer's market and bought 4 liters (1 gallon) of milk and rushed home to pasteurize it and to start the whole process. Prior to it, I ordered a cheese starter culture because without it nothing can be done. Pasteurizing is a very "fun" process. You need to bring milk to 78 degrees Celsius (172F) and then quickly cool it down to 35 C (95F). To not overheat milk we had a kitchen thermometer and followed the temperature on it. Once we did it the next step was to ass the starter and let it the milk sit for 45 minutes. At first, it looked like nothing is happening, but then

That's how you know that you pasteurized the milk the right way because the "cheese body" formed and now you are one step closer to making your own cheese. So the next step was to break the cheese body into cheese grain:

Next we drained our cheese grain and let it cool down in a cheese shaping cup

After 2 hours our "string cheese" was ready for the next stage. In order to shape it into a smooth looking head of cheese, we had to bring water to boil in a pot and put our "rough cheese head" into the hot water and "knead" it with a wooden spoon. When the water cooled down a bit I was able to knead it with my hands. It didn't come out perfect but when the cheese was put back into the cheese forming cup it "finished shaping itself" while cooling down.

We put it into the fridge and the next day went through the final stage - kept cheese head in the salty water for 3 hours. THE END!!! ))) It came out great and the best part is that we made it ourselves! The next stage will be to make feta cheese and then we hope to move to more complicated aged cheeses! Hope you will like my story and it will inspire you to do something you've always wanted to try but hesitated. Till next time! Stay safe!

Christmas Eve in Ukraine

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate Christmas according to Julian calendar! Phew! That's pretty long greeting! In Ukraine, we great each other saying "Jesus is being born!" and the answer is "Glory to Him!" We also do a lot of other things that are quite different from Christmas on the 25th of January. I've already written one post about that and you can check it out here
www.ukraineandukrainians.com/2019/01/how-ukrainians-celebrate-christmas.html


I decided to write about our celebration one more time mainly because this year I am back home and my family was showing our traditional celebration to my husband. So according to a very old tradition, we are supposed to have 12 dishes on the table referring this way to 12 apostles that were disciples of Jesus Christ. We didn't prepare all 12 this year since it's a lot of dishes for 4 people and a ton of cooking for 2 women though in such case we involve our men. So we did cook the core meals that are considered as a must for any Christmas table. The main dish that I can't imagine my Christmas without is Kutia. It has sacral meaning to us: the unity of all ingredients means fertility, health and wealth. By eating it, we kind of program our year to be abundant and successful. The eldest family member is supposed to say a prayer before each participant takes a spoonful of Kutia at the very beginning of the dinner. In my family, this role belonged to my grandfather, but in 2020 he passed away and it was weird to have the first bite of Kutia without his opening word. But life goes on... and Kutia was on our table just like always.

The base for Kutia is cooked barley mixed with poppy seeds, raisins, walnut and dressed with honey. Depending on the region it can be very thick or even resemble a cold soup. The "tough" part in preparing Kutia is poppy seeds. At first, they soak in hot water and after that the most demanding and old school part of preparation takes place.

So as you can tell I was grinding poppy seeds with a bit of sugar in a special looking bowl which we call "makitra". The more Kutia you plan to make - the more poppy seed you will have to grind. On top of that ground poppy seed is used for another traditional Christmas dish - buckwheat pancakes stuffed with poppy seed. The dough for those pancakes is a bit different from everyday one because it's made with yeast and mix of wheat and buckwheat flour. That's where my husband had to step in and grind buckwheat grits in old manual coffee mill for us to finish cooking. Then you have to "wrap" dough around the stuffing skillfully and fry them:

Another absolute must on the table is my favorite varenyky or as they are traditionally called in the US "pierogi" (polish word for varenyky). Since the Christmas Eve dinner takes part during the lent which is over only at midnight all the dishes on the table are meat-free. So varenyky are traditionally cooked with sauerkraut previously fried with a little bit of diced onions or potatoes with onion or mushrooms.

We also cook some kind of fish. It can be either fried or baked but this year we substituted it with marinated herring that goes really well with baked potatoes. So as I've mentioned before, we didn't have all 12 dishes but our table looked very festive

So one more time - Merry Christmas! Христос ся Рождає! - Славімо Його!

3-Hour Hike

Hello everyone everywhere! I dedicate this post to those whose New Year's resolution was to hike more in 2021. I want to tell you about the second biggest river in Ukraine that we are lucky to live next to. So the two largest rivers in Ukraine are Dnipro and Dnister. The latter cuts through western Ukraine and discharges its waters into the Black Sea. The small town of Zalishchyky that became our temporary resort sits on the left bank of this magnificent river and due to it the town's view is famous all over Ukraine and not only. Why? Check out this video by Ukrainer to see why:

I want to tell you a couple of facts about this river and our hike along it the other day. The river rises near town Drohobych which sits at the foot of Ukrainian Carpathians. So the river is considered to be a mountain stream and Carpathians generously feed it with snow and rains which results in floods during spring snow break. It used to have a lot of names and was mentioned back in the times by ancient Greeks that called it Tyras. Later on, it carried names Danastris and Danastus and the Turks called it Turia. The river served as a border between different states at different times. Today the river is the border between two Ukrainian oblasts (administrative regions) - Chernivtsi and Ternopil regions. While in ancient times it was used as a trade route, nowadays it is more recreational area and navigation no longer takes place except several ferries that connect villages on opposite banks. Dnister forms a unique natural landmark - the Dnister Canyon. You can find amazing places along the river shore: overhanging cliffs, mysterious caves and manmade places like cave church Bakota. In Zalishchyky Dnister is pretty wide but not very deep. Though in 2020 the river level raised very high and villages located on low sections of the shore suffered from the big water. The town consists of two parts - the old town sitting at the bottom of the river valley and the new town sitting on the top of the hill - and for us, living in the new town, the river is located down below, we need to descend a very steep slope to get to the river which we did the other day. So while all mountaineers say that descent it the most dangerous part of "climbing" I can tell you that in our case ascending was quite an undertaking. If you take a look at this photo and spot a church dome in the right top part of the photo it will give you a perspective on our descend since the church was our starting point.

Though it is an enjoyable hike, you should keep in mind that it's very muddy and there is a lot of small pebbles that can make you slip very easily. And better you are very careful when trying to grab some branch to hold to it - the slopes are covered in rose hip bushes and hawthorn. Once you get to the bottom, you can walk right next to the river and enjoy the views.

Hope you enjoyed this short 4-mile hike and the views. Till the new story! Stay safe!

A Trip to Ghost Town

Hello World! How are you doing in 2021? I know you haven't felt ay difference yet but wait till you have to fill some paperwork out! Once you will get to the place where you need to put "today's date" I bet you will automatically write "2020" and then will redo "0" into "1". That's how we finally realize that something has changed )) I promised myself that this year I will write a lot more (and hopefully eat less) and the best way to stick to such promises is to bring them to life right away. So today I'm going to tell you about our small trip to a ghost town. It won't be about modern towns that you can see on YouTube that got abandoned because of different reasons. It's a completely different type of story. Chervonohorod or Red Town in English is situated not far from the town where live my parents. I remember visiting this place in childhood and it always mesmerised me. Only years later I learnt the history of the place and I must tell you its history is even more impressive than the way this place looks nowadays. According to different chronicles, the settlement with a castle in its center existed as early as the 12th century. It got its name from red soil it stands on.

As you can see on the photo I took not just soil is red but it colors everything in red. The wheels of our car looked like after some fancy customizing. The town used to sit at the bottom of a very deep valley and even nowadays to get to the ruins of the castle you need to have guts to take a serpentine-like road with tricky boulders all over it. But believe me its worth it.

The town had been in the center of historical events for almost 6 centuries. It was conquered by different kings of Kyiv Rus, it suffered from the invasion of Tatars, it was given as a present and a dowry, it was owned by kings of Lithuania, it was part of Poland and later on of Austro-Hungarian Empire. Its last owner decided to rebuild the centrepiece of the town, the ancient castle and turn it into a palace. If I had ever met him I would have broken his arms, but unfortunately, history knows a lot of self-taught architects. So in the 19th century, the two towers and part of the castle were torn down, the other two towers got rebuilt and a palace was added between them.

(photo taken from the Internet) When the Soviet Union took Ukraine over the local Polish population was re-settled and as of 1952, the official number of residents was 15 people. There was an attempt to revive the place by building a hydropower plant on the river Dzhuryn in 1957 and the reservoir next to it was really popular with locals. But it lasted only for a couple of years and at the beginning of the 1960s the station was closed and the equipment was removed. In 1970 Chervonohorod or Chervone - the Soviets also changed its name to something less significant - ceased to exist de jure. Nowadays what's left of rebuilt castle-palace and ruins of a church next to it attract a lot of local and foreign tourists (judging from inscriptions on the walls). There were a couple of projects aimed at reconstruction or, at least, conservation of the place, but they haven't got anywhere yet. The day we visited the place was very gloomy but it adds some character to the place.

The church located near the castle that I've mentioned earlier is a catholic church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. It was built in the 17th century and used to be home to monks of Dominican Order.

The cherry on the cake is a magnificent waterfall on the river Dzhuryn right next to the ruins. It is the tallest lowland waterfall in Ukraine and its roar is very impressive.

That's it for today. I hope I didn't overload you with history. Enjoy and I would really appreciate your comments! Stay safe and till next story!

Happy New Year everyone everywhere! I don't know how you are celebrating this year, but I can tell you that here in Ukraine we are going to celebrate differently than ever before. Of course I don't mean the whole country but only my family, judjung from the lines in the stores and how crowded the farmer's market was yesterday a lot of people will celebrate the usual way. That is with tables filled with meats, salads, fruit and alcohol. Why have we decided to celebrate New Year differently this time? Well, it's been a very tough year, and not because of corona. The virus was just a "cherry" on top of the cocktail of craziness. So I am sitting here with a bottle of sparkling wine opened (won't wait till the midnight) and a plate of salad a la Russe that I made first thing today in the morning and hope that fireworks won't be too loud and we can go to sleep before the "change of years". I understand that 2021 won't bring the normality back. So I will take this change from 2020 to 2021 just like a fact and keep walking my path. In any case, it doesn't matter what date is on the calendar, it does matter if you have quality time with those who really matter to you. And if you want to have real fun - dress your parent's dog to look like a Christmas tree! Cheers!

Back in Ukraine

Hello everyone everywhere! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I have a story to tell you though I've been very quiet this year a lot of things have happened and now I am planning to catch up a bit and tell you them one by one. So my second and last story of this year will be a big one. After 5 years of living in the USA, I am back to Ukraine. Ta-daaam! I know that for a lot of people in Ukraine this decision is something they can't wrap their heads around. I know that for many people in the US moving across the ocean it's something absolutely crazy but romantic. I want to explain to you why they think so and tell you what I think about all of it. For the majority of Ukrainians, I have to deal with on a daily basis moving abroad is a dream of their lifetime. Don't get me wrong, Ukraine is a wonderful country, but being a Ukrainian is a tough thing and demands some amount of patience and courage. We became independent a while ago but our Soviet past still holds an icy grip on our mentality and behavior. So not surprising that the amount of my fellow citizens that believe that the grass is greener on the other side is still pretty large. Once they move abroad and understand that each country has its good and bad sides they take a decision to pretend that they are a story of great success. So they feed their relatives that stayed home all these stories about "money grow here on the trees" and keep all the hardship to themselves. I've never been illusional as for "wonderful abroad" though I have to confess that living in such country as the US opened my eyes on a lot of things and taught me to appreciate my own country. I learnt that the virus of bureaucracy has infected the whole world, that you have to pay attention to what food products you buy (we are slightly spoilt here in Ukraine with more natural products), that you have to be careful with people you speak to because what seems like a joke in Ukraine can be offensive to someone in the States. There is a bunch of other things that I had to adapt to but since I speak the language it was relatively easy for me. However, I am fully aware that I risked living in another country only because of my husband. I am not sure I would do something like that, especially in my age. Moving to another country requires a lot of energy and dedication. It's way easier if you are just 21 years old and there is no power in the world to stop you. Once you crossed the Rubicon of 35 years old you get used to your lifestyle and any dramatic changes are very painful. At least for me )) On top of that Americans live a very stressful lifestyle. They work all the time and rest very little. It literally wears you out and by a certain age you are tired and your health starts going downhill. Ukrainians are hard-working nation too, especially those who live in rural areas. They heavily depend on the land to feed themselves and their families. And since a lot of people still think the old way they tend to grow more than they really need. Smart farming just started coming to Ukraine and it will take a while to reset the minds to new ways. So, for Ukrainians that are shocked about our decision to relocate to Ukraine, I can answer that though the United States is considered a country of endless possibilities the possibilities are actually pretty limited and will require a ton of effort and that still won't grant you anything. If you are ready to gamble like that, well, be my guest. I weighed all pros and cons, my husband did even more of that weighing and we came to the conclusion that it might be a solution for us. Especially if to take into account that we are looking for a quiet lifestyle and downshifting to a rural environment. For Americans that romanticise Europe I can say that, unfortunately, Europe has changed a lot. Old good Europe is pretty much non-existent and the events of 2020 proved that. It's sad but that the reality we have to accept. That's why countries like Ukraine, Romania, Slovenia and alike look more attractive right now. At least they are more attractive to me. I do see both good and bad sides of the developing economies and I can say that some good things I see actually outweigh the bad ones. Among them, I can definitely name the quality of food and less bureaucracy (surprisingly). Of course, if you are a person heavily dependant on American lifestyle you would have massive problems here. I will not pretend that it's easy to integrate into local communities, even the language will look to you as an abyss between you and natives, but with a little bit of an effort in a year local people will call you lovingly "Our American". So I am happy to be home, I am happy I can show my country to my husband in a more profound way, literally from inside. It's a challenge for both of us, though the whole 2020 was a kind of endless quest and I am not sure there is anything left to surprise us. Though I think I should keep my mouth shut because you never know what 2021 has on its mind. With all this said I want to wish you a better year ahead and not to be afraid of changes. What is life if not a bunch of changes we constantly try to adjust to? Greetings and stay safe! P.S. A couple my photos for good mood ))