“I was born a long time ago, on a train in Ukraine! Maybe that’s why I’ve always loved traveling (laughs)! I have a French ancestor who married a German woman, and their son married a Polish woman. They had a son who went to Saint Petersburg in Queen Ekaterina’s army and he married a Russian. Their son is my grandfather, and therefore I am automatically Russian. He went to live in Odessa and married my grandmother, a Ukrainian. And so I am automatically Ukrainian too. So in fact I myself don’t know who I am! I’m from all over Europe (laughs)! During World War II, my mother saw her own mother being killed by German soldiers. I think she was traumatized, and that’s why I didn’t have a good childhood.
Pressure, punishment, she would belittle me all the time. I was like a little beaten dog. I wasn’t even allowed to look at her. I only dreamed of one thing: leaving home. With this experience, I became very strong, but I did not become evil. Completely the opposite ! As I had greatly lacked love, I dreamed of finding family love again. So I decided to become a teacher to give children all the love that I had kept within me throughout my youth. I was very determined in my studies, I knew what I had to do and I did it. I went straight ahead. Nothing could stop me! At 17 I went to Moscow to attend teacher’s school. It was incredible! I was young, I was beautiful, and very active. We went to all the theaters, all the concerts in Moscow. Around 20 I met my husband, a Russian from Siberia, and I moved to Kamchatka with him and my daughter who was born there.
But my mother continued to prevent me from being happy. She did everything in her power to make me divorce. She told me he was cheating on me, and she told him the same thing. We ended up divorcing, and I returned to Odessa with my daughter. I returned to my job as a teacher in a school where I stayed until my retirement. School became my world. Everything I did was for the children. I gave each of them a little piece of my soul. That’s all. It’s simple. Between preparing scripts for concerts, going out with the kids, preparing homework, staying up to date with everything that’s going on, I didn’t have time to do anything else. My whole life has been school and children. I was happy because I built my life the way I wanted, a very active and very rich life. And the discomfort that I had throughout my youth, I left it very, very far behind me to live in love.
I am going to tell you something. In Ukraine, students give each teacher a nickname, and sometimes it can be very mean. But I never had a nickname. I had total respect. And that alone says it all. Unfortunately, there aren’t many teachers like this anymore. Now they just transmit information, the program they learned. But directing children towards life, so that they understand how to live, that’s something else all together. And that’s what I’ve always tried to do. I took a class of 11 year olds and stayed with them until they were 17. I worried about each of them. And I will remain their teacher all their lives (laughs)! I’m everyone’s mom! My first students are over 45 now, and their children become my own grandchildren! So I have a lot of children and grandchildren (laughs)!
On February 24, at 4 a.m. I heard a big explosion. At first I thought it was an accident. I called my daughter who worked near the airport, and she was already crying: “Mom, it’s war.” I turned on the TV and saw the news. It was like a knife in the back. I was not afraid for myself, but I was afraid for my daughter, for my students, and for the future of Ukraine. That day I just cried and screamed. I did not know what to do. Where should we go? Do what? It was horrible. Until the last second I didn’t want to believe in this war. I studied in Russia, I lived and taught there, I am a former Soviet child. We were all of the same nationality, we were all the same! All I can tell you is that the Russia I knew when I was young and the Russia of today are not the same country. People in Russia have become like zombies.
My best friend’s daughter lived in Geneva and she invited me to come to her house. Quickly and without thinking, I left. I think if I had stayed in Ukraine I would have already died. I couldn’t have put up with the sirens all the time, the bombings. And with the prices having increased so much I would not have had the means to treat myself. I am diabetic and have a heart problem. So Switzerland really saved my life. I don’t even have words to say thank you. I understand very well that they take the money out of their own pocket. So I want you to write: a huge thank you for the Swiss who opened the door to welcome all the Ukrainian refugees. We arrived in paradise, found accommodation, financial support, and medical care. And I felt in Geneva that everyone helped with open hearts. I now live in a Hospice Général home and all the staff are so invested in our best. We feel that they give with their soul and a big heart, and that is very touching for us.
For the first 3 months here all I did was cry. My heart is broken into a thousand pieces. There was a before, and an after the war. As if you uprooted a tree from Ukraine and dropped it off in Geneva. I am here, but my roots remain back there. My life is like cut in two and I am left in the middle, without knowing what will happen tomorrow. I know 4 of my students have already been killed. And there are probably more that I’m not aware of. I live with my phone non-stop, watching the news about Ukraine. I get up and go to bed with it. I am here, but at the same time I am there. Now I am sure that when I return to Ukraine, at home, I will only speak Ukrainian. I really want to remove the Russian language and everything related to Russia from my home. Because Russia massacred and killed my people, and my students. After the war, we will rebuild a new country. The Ukrainian people are truly unique. We like to work, we are intelligent. We are going to climb back up and rebuild our homeland.”
A story published as part of the series “And then the war started…” produced in partnership with the Croix-Rouge genevoise
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“I was born a long time ago, on a train in Ukraine! Maybe that’s why I’ve always loved traveling (laughs)! I have a French ancestor who married a German woman, and their son married a Polish woman. They had a son who went to Saint Petersburg in Queen Ekaterina’s army and he married a Russian. Their son is my grandfather, and therefore I am automatically Russian. He went to live in Odessa and married my grandmother, a Ukrainian. And so I am automatically Ukrainian too. So in fact I myself don’t know who I am! I’m from all over Europe (laughs)! During World War II, my mother saw her own mother being killed by German soldiers. I think she was traumatized, and that’s why I didn’t have a good childhood.
Pressure, punishment, she would belittle me all the time. I was like a little beaten dog. I wasn’t even allowed to look at her. I only dreamed of one thing: leaving home. With this experience, I became very strong, but I did not become evil. Completely the opposite ! As I had greatly lacked love, I dreamed of finding family love again. So I decided to become a teacher to give children all the love that I had kept within me throughout my youth. I was very determined in my studies, I knew what I had to do and I did it. I went straight ahead. Nothing could stop me! At 17 I went to Moscow to attend teacher’s school. It was incredible! I was young, I was beautiful, and very active. We went to all the theaters, all the concerts in Moscow. Around 20 I met my husband, a Russian from Siberia, and I moved to Kamchatka with him and my daughter who was born there.
But my mother continued to prevent me from being happy. She did everything in her power to make me divorce. She told me he was cheating on me, and she told him the same thing. We ended up divorcing, and I returned to Odessa with my daughter. I returned to my job as a teacher in a school where I stayed until my retirement. School became my world. Everything I did was for the children. I gave each of them a little piece of my soul. That’s all. It’s simple. Between preparing scripts for concerts, going out with the kids, preparing homework, staying up to date with everything that’s going on, I didn’t have time to do anything else. My whole life has been school and children. I was happy because I built my life the way I wanted, a very active and very rich life. And the discomfort that I had throughout my youth, I left it very, very far behind me to live in love.
I am going to tell you something. In Ukraine, students give each teacher a nickname, and sometimes it can be very mean. But I never had a nickname. I had total respect. And that alone says it all. Unfortunately, there aren’t many teachers like this anymore. Now they just transmit information, the program they learned. But directing children towards life, so that they understand how to live, that’s something else all together. And that’s what I’ve always tried to do. I took a class of 11 year olds and stayed with them until they were 17. I worried about each of them. And I will remain their teacher all their lives (laughs)! I’m everyone’s mom! My first students are over 45 now, and their children become my own grandchildren! So I have a lot of children and grandchildren (laughs)!
On February 24, at 4 a.m. I heard a big explosion. At first I thought it was an accident. I called my daughter who worked near the airport, and she was already crying: “Mom, it’s war.” I turned on the TV and saw the news. It was like a knife in the back. I was not afraid for myself, but I was afraid for my daughter, for my students, and for the future of Ukraine. That day I just cried and screamed. I did not know what to do. Where should we go? Do what? It was horrible. Until the last second I didn’t want to believe in this war. I studied in Russia, I lived and taught there, I am a former Soviet child. We were all of the same nationality, we were all the same! All I can tell you is that the Russia I knew when I was young and the Russia of today are not the same country. People in Russia have become like zombies.
My best friend’s daughter lived in Geneva and she invited me to come to her house. Quickly and without thinking, I left. I think if I had stayed in Ukraine I would have already died. I couldn’t have put up with the sirens all the time, the bombings. And with the prices having increased so much I would not have had the means to treat myself. I am diabetic and have a heart problem. So Switzerland really saved my life. I don’t even have words to say thank you. I understand very well that they take the money out of their own pocket. So I want you to write: a huge thank you for the Swiss who opened the door to welcome all the Ukrainian refugees. We arrived in paradise, found accommodation, financial support, and medical care. And I felt in Geneva that everyone helped with open hearts. I now live in a Hospice Général home and all the staff are so invested in our best. We feel that they give with their soul and a big heart, and that is very touching for us.
For the first 3 months here all I did was cry. My heart is broken into a thousand pieces. There was a before, and an after the war. As if you uprooted a tree from Ukraine and dropped it off in Geneva. I am here, but my roots remain back there. My life is like cut in two and I am left in the middle, without knowing what will happen tomorrow. I know 4 of my students have already been killed. And there are probably more that I’m not aware of. I live with my phone non-stop, watching the news about Ukraine. I get up and go to bed with it. I am here, but at the same time I am there. Now I am sure that when I return to Ukraine, at home, I will only speak Ukrainian. I really want to remove the Russian language and everything related to Russia from my home. Because Russia massacred and killed my people, and my students. After the war, we will rebuild a new country. The Ukrainian people are truly unique. We like to work, we are intelligent. We are going to climb back up and rebuild our homeland.”
A story published as part of the series “And then the war started…” produced in partnership with the Croix-Rouge genevoise