Martyrs of Magadan - Stories of the Gulag

On December 5, 1945 a whole platoon of soldiers with two tanks rode into our village. Many people were killed that day. They came into our home and simply began pillaging. They took everything that was there – clothing, livestock, grain. They used physical force. Yes, they simply terrorized us. Up to that time I had studied for only three months at an institute. I had only just turned eighteen-years-old. My fifteen-year-old brother and I were taken away. The entire day they interrogated us. They took us in turn and tried to determine a connection with the partisans. During the investigation, I was severely beaten. Yes, they employed the most frightening physical tortures. Towards evening we were taken away to the oblast. They were afraid to remain in the village at night. My fifteen-year-old brother was also taken with me. He vanished. Continue...

We are pureblooded Ukrainians through grandfather and great-grandfather. We were always farmers, capable of any trade. One of my ancestors even built a church. There were 6 children in our family, one brother, and the rest girls. Mama had prayed to the blessed Mother asking to be given at least one son. Our Peter suffered greatly under the Soviets. He was arrested on December 6, 1946 along with an older sister Eustace. They arrested them in the middle of the night, at 3 am. They arrested many others that night. They were able to bully them. This just destroyed our family. But then, people can say the same thing everywhere in the Ukraine. Continue...