It’s a documentary on a little-
known story about Ukrainian
children who were torn from
their homes and their nation
when the Nazis invaded the ter-
ritory and clashed with the So-
viet army at the height of World
War II. Spending their child-
hoods as refugees in Europe,
these Ukrainians later immi-
grated to the United States and
created their own communities
through their grit, faith, and en-
during belief in the importance
of preserving their culture.
The film is by Matej Silecky,
a first-time filmmaker from
Verona, NJ. It will be screened
at the New Jersey Film Festival
on Sunday, October 7th in Voor-
hees Hall at 7:00pm following
a screening of the short, Eli by
Collin Gerard. Silecky will take
part in a Q&A session after the
screening.
This is a subject with a very
personal connection for Silecky
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whose grandparents had to flee
during that time period. “My
grandmother’s story was actually
one of the first ones that got this
documentary moving and paved
the way for traveling around and
across the United States to gath-
er the stories of our elders,” he
said.
There are Ukrainian commu-
nities throughout the country
and they often know of people
in communities in other states.
When he found one survivor,
they often led to more. Over
2 million Ukrainians were dis-
placed from their homes as they
fled deportation and death. At
the war’s end, approximately
200,000 ended up in displaced
person (DP) camps, later immi-
grating to other countries. Many
of the people he interviewed
were either teenagers during
World War II or close to being a
teenager. This meant they were
old enough to remember the
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