A Week in Kyiv, Ukraine

I would like to welcome my mother Carole Lieberman, to write a guest blog about the week we spent together in Kyiv, Ukraine with my dad Lucien and his Ukrainian cousins. 

Travelling is always interesting and full of new experiences but our recent trip to  Kiev was very special and meaningful. We were warmly welcomed by close family that we had never met.

History has an interesting way of unfolding. My husband Lucien’s father was born in Russia and was 1 of ten children who all reached adulthood. The oldest daughter Sophie immigrated to Canada in 1912, married a homesteader, lived in Rumsey, Alberta and had 5 young children when she was widowed in 1927.

In 1923 Lucien’s grandparents, along with 4 of their children, including Lucien’s father Leo, arrived in Canada and worked as farm labourers in Rumsey where they lived for several years.  Sadly, in 1927, their daughter Lucy, who Lucien was named for, ended her life there at age 25. Shortly after this loss, their other daughter Manya returned to Russia on her own.  And in 1928 the grandparents were determined to return to Russia as well and since they were in their 60’s, they were considered “too old” to travel on their own. Either Lucien’s father Leo or his brother Sam had to accompany them back on the ship to Russia.  Sam travelled with them with every intention of returning to Canada but unfortunately never did.

Since he had a very good command of English, Sam and his sister Manya worked as translators in an international trade organization in Moscow for thiteen years. The war broke out, Sam fought in the Red army, was injured and after the war was considered to be “bourgeois” with western connections and was exiled to the Gulag near the Arctic Circle for 10 years where he was forced to do slave labour.  Sam eventually married, and at the age of 57, he fathered his only son Grisha.  

We always knew about Uncle Sam and cousin Grisha and were told that Grisha lived in Madigan which is closer to Anchorage than to Moscow - it is a 12 hour flight to Kiev.  Years went by without connection and finally in 2016 we learned that Grisha and his wife Svetlana and their 2 children were living in Kiev.  We had our first contact by phone when we were in NY visiting with other Russian relatives and “met” our new cousins on Skype shortly after.  

Their son Stanislaus Lieberman is married, has a 2 year old daughter and is a criminal lawyer in Kiev with a good command of English. 

Tina Karol, their daughter, born Tatiana Lieberman, and affectionately called Tinotchka by family, is a renowned Ukrainian singer and lives nearby in Kiev.  Tina represented Ukraine as Ukraine’s Eurovision candidate in 2006 and has an illustrious career singing and performing around the world in Ukrainian, English and Hebrew.  She is the “face of Ukraine” with billboard ads @ the airport for Huwaei, and many ads for cosmetic companies and more.  Her 10 year old son Veniamin attends school in England but is very close to his beautiful mother and returns to Kiev frequently.  Tragically Tina’s devoted husband Eugeny Ogir, who was her producer, died at age 33 shortly after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer.  

We came to feel very close to our cousins after getting to know them on Skype and plans were quickly made to visit Kiev.  There was no discussion - they insisted that we stay with them in their apartment so that we’d really get to know one another.  It was certainly not our custom to stay with people whom we had never met  in their 2 bedroom apartment for 8 nights!

Grisha speaks a little English and Svetlana would email regularly and thanks to google translate we communicated well.  Days before our departure Svetlana wrote that “they were trembling with anticipation,” as were we.  

Leanne also joined us so that she could share this memorable experience and document the family history.

We were welcomed at the airport with a “Lieberman” sign and the warmest hugs and happiest tears.  Several times everyday Grisha would grab Lucien and kiss him - saying “you are my cousin”.  Since Grisha was born to his father late in life there is an 18 year difference in their ages, but a very strong family connection.  They opened their home to us, made us feel so welcome and fed us traditional Ukrainian food that is so reminiscent of the food that Lucien’s mother served when he was growing up in Calgary.

Our whole week was planned in advance and included not only family visits and meals, but a visit to a wonderful Ukrainian folk dance show in a huge theatre where we were seated in the presidents box, welcomed with a champagne reception, presented with traditional Ukrainian outfits for Vishivanka, a special holiday - all hosted by Tina. Tina’s  private driver drove us to Lavra - a 26 acre monastery where we were taken on a private tour with an English guide.  Lunch was at a fine restaurant where we were taught to make verenikes with the assistance of a restaurant chef in a private cooking class.   

We were welcomed by Tina in her stunning private home and garden, viewed her studio and got a sense of her personal life.  Her fans in Ukraine adore her and surround her when they see her out in public.  Her son was away at school but sent us several videos that he made for us.

With Tina and Grisha waearing traditional Vishivanka shirts for Vishivanka Day.

Kiev is a stunning city with the river Dneiper running through it from one end to the other.  It has beautiful “Kashtana” (chestnut), Acacia & Lilac trees and a number of impressive bridges and view points.  There are many parks, huge squares, interesting architecture, an excellent subway system with the longest escalators imaginable and far too much traffic (propka).  

We also toured Babi Yar, where a famous massacre took place in 1941 and is now a huge memorial park.  

Babi Yar Memorial

Together we watched the inauguration of President Volodymyrska Zelenskiy , a 41 year old Jewish former comedian and watched as Svetlana proudly sang the national anthem.

We visited the Euromaidan, the central square of the city where significant protests took place in 2014 which changed the political orientation westward.  We saw the parliament buildings and Marinsky park that surrounds it.   We toured a fascinating military museum, an old synagogue and were taken to the famous opera house where we thoroughly enjoyed seeing the ballet.

We celebrated our last night with the family at a beautiful restaurant overlooking the river - very fine dining with an excellent playroom where active little 2 year old Vesta played while we dined.  Apparently all fine dining restaurants have complimentary playrooms.  After dinner we had a wonderful heart to heart visit with Tina. 

The climate is warm in Spring but not too hot and the air is often beautifully fragrant  with the scent of Acacia trees, stronger in the morning and in the evening when we all strolled along the river.

We all laughed together when we were offered “BBQ’d Kitchen” and when Grisha confuses the words “us” and “ass”.

Every  moment of every day has been memorable.  We spent several evenings sharing family photos -  photos of them that we brought from home and it was fascinating to see photos of us with our young children, our niece Jill Weinstein and her brothers and other Canadian and American family members in their photo albums that were mailed to them by my in-laws and others before we lost contact.  We laughed, hugged, cried and shared stories often, always with “Grishinke” grabbing and kissing “Lucienke” and proudly  saying “you are my cousin”.   

Svetlana prepared delicious meals daily for us and we would awaken to the smell of kreplach, borscht, haluptsi, cheese latkes, potato pancakes or verenikes cooking and enjoyed eating forshmuk - a chopped white fish salad and more!  

Together Grisha and Lucien sat and ate “shemiskes” aka sunflower seeds that only people who were raised by siblings would enjoy the same way.

We arrived with gifts for our new family and expected to have extra room in our luggage but they sent us off with many Ukrainian gifts and tried to give us a bottle of their delicious Vodka which we had enjoyed drinking with them.

The visit has exceeded our expectations and it is our hope and our dream that we will enjoy many more reunions with our new family.  When we hugged Grisha goodbye and thanked him for everything, he responded - “I am the son of Sam.”