Life ’ s Challenges
by Alek Oliinyk
the documents , and sent them to three different children ’ s homes . After that , Mariya often visited the three .
When Hlib turned 18 years old , he was chosen to study for and later work for the state institution of security of the USSR . Since then , he did not have an opportunity to visit his family . During his education , Hlib always told everyone that he is an orphan , so as people would not find out about his father ’ s identity and report it to the government .
14 | SLAS TIMES
During WWII , Yevhen and Lavrentiy participated in the war , were injured , and returned back home to Kryvyi Rih . Meanwhile , Hlib worked in the institution of the government security , and therefore was not drafted to war . He later married and decided to stay in Moscow . But , he still did not tell anyone about his family – even to his wife .
Lev Aksiuk ( my great-great-grandfather )
In the years 1932-1933 , Joseph Stalin ’ s government forcefully caused a mass famine in parts of the USSR . In Ukraine specifically , the famine was called Holodomor . Also , during this time period , the government was actively jailing and deporting people who opposed the rule to Siberia . My great-great-grandfather Lev Aksiuk was a priest . As the government considered clergymen to be the “ enemy of the people ,” he was executed . So , his seven children were left fatherless . Lev ’ s wife Mariya could not afford to feed all of the children . Two older children , Yevhen and Nina , could help in the household , and the two younger children , Tetyana and Antonina , needed constant attention from the mother . As Mariya did not have enough money to care for the middle children , Lavrentiy , Olha , and Hlib , she had no choice but to send them to a children ’ s home . As she feared that the government might find out that their father was a priest , she renamed each of the children ’ s patronymic names ( father ’ s names ) in
From left to right : Zinayida ( Lavrentiy ’ s wife ), Mariya ( my great-great-grandmother ), Antonina , Lavrentiy , and Yevhen ( my great-grandfather )