大象传媒

Maria's story is part of a collection recorded for a reminiscence project to celebrate the history of the Ukrainian community in Gloucester, and contributed to the 大象传媒 People's War with permission.

I was born in 1925, in Kniazhiki, Ukraine (near Kiev). My family were farming people, and I helped look after the four cows, the chickens, geese and ducks. I remember working very hard as a child. I went to school in the village but this was for only four years because of the war. I have many happy memories of my childhood before the war.

The Germans took me in 1942, when I was as 16 years old. They took 35 boys and girls of the same age. I never saw my parents again. I was put to work in a munitions factory in Hamburg. The factory made weapons and I spent 10 months here. I remember that the German women at the factory were kind.

The factory was bombed in 1943 and I was sent by the Germans to work at two farms in East Germany. The first for only three and a half months, the second, a pig farm, for two years.

There were 12 girls altogether and we were treated very badly. It was just like a prison. The farmer's wife was very unkind. I had to walk to the farm 3陆 miles each way. I worked on the farm until the end of the war. I have kept friends with many of the girls I met on the farm, they now live in Australia and Poland, and my best friend lives in Canada.

In 1947 I came to London. I was given a choice of moving on to America, Australia, Canada or New Zealand, but I decided to stay in England. I had no choice of work and was sent to Taunton, Somerset to be trained as a mental nurse. I had a very good impression of England as the Matron and nurses were very good to me. I met mt husband in May 1947 at the Roman Catholic Church in Taunton. He was a Polish soldier who became a builder and we moved to Gloucester in 1950.

I have returned to Poland six times but I have never been back to Ukraine.

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