I'm 3rd generation in the US and I'm only of Ukrainian decent. Here's my story.
I'm 3rd generation in the US. My dad's family cane from a small village in Ternopil Ukraine. My mom's family came from the Lviv region. My mom's surname is fairly common. My dad's name is not. The prefix of my dad's surname is common, but for some reason some families in the village in Ternopil where my dads parents are from have the suffix "sky" at the end of their name.
My entire paternal side left Ukraine shortly after WW2. In the US, our surname had 3 spellings ending in "tzkiwsky", "ckiwsky", and "ckowsky". I'm kind of jealous of our cousins with the tzkiwsky spelling since I have the "ckowsky" spelling and no one prounces the "c" like the "c" in "dance", rather pronouncing it like the "c" in "cat". My family in New Jersey originally had "-ckiwsky" but changed it to "-"-tzkiwsky" most likely so people would pronounce it correctly. Our family here in NY should have honestly done the same.
My father's family never really belonged in the US. They originally came here in 1905, and moved back to Ukraine in 1929 because they hated living here. They were forced to come back after WW2 due to being in the Halychyna Division. The entire family with my surname moved back here. In the 60s one of my dad's uncle tried to go back to our home village but was arrested by the Soviets upon his return.
My family never really made many strides here. They own a bunch of property but one one ever had kids. Out of the three man with the "tzkiwsky" suffix on our name, none had kids. My family here in NY is in the same situation. My father married my mother in 1996 and I was born in 1997. The only reason my mom married my father was because of his parents being from Ukraine just like her parents were. They were married until 1998.
My dad didn't want much to do with my when I was an infant. Once I was around 5 he started wanting to spend time with me. His family had a dairy farm in Upstate NY. I remember the farm pretty well and I really loved growing up on the farm. In the mid 2000s my dad's family sold the farm and my dad became a truck driver. He ended up becoming very abusive. He always would get drunk and break stuff, yell and curse, and he hated my grandmother Olga a lot. Always blaming her for everything. She always thought my dad would kill her. He'd always do the NAZI salute in front of her and say "heil Hitler" when he was drunk. I was much older when I found out my family was in the SS, but it made sense why he did this. My grandfather was also abusive to my dad on the farm and with my family's ties to the SS, he most likely was just mimicking what his dad was like.
Needless to say, I really hated going to my dads house but I liked my grandmother so that's why I went. My family was Catholic technically but the only person who went to church was my grandmother. My dad never let her take me because he said that going to church was "only for women". I really wish I got to spend more time with her. In 2013 she finally moved into her own apartment to get away from my father. She died this year. My last grandparent as she was the youngest of them passing away at 96.
I don't talk to my dad anymore. As there's no difference between him being drunk or sober at this point. I went to college and have a good paying job. I made sure to stay away from alcohol abd do the opposite of what my father did in his life.
I'm not sure what I should do. My whole life I have been interested in Ukrainian culture, language, and possibly moving to Ukraine.
It's kind of awkward because I've been told I look very Ukrainian by newer arrivals from Ukraine. All of the ones I've met who came here recently are Evangelicals (specifically Pentecostal) so when they ask if my family goes to their church I have to explain to them that no, they're Catholic because we came a half century before all of you due to being kicked out of Ukraine for joining the NAZIs.
Met a few Ukrainian girls recently but never got a second date having to sit there and explain the whole NAZI thing to them. I might just want to leave out that we went back in 1929.
I just don't want to lie because my name is very rare as I said and my uncle (who travels to Ukraine all the time) went on Suspilne Ternopil (Television channel) and told my entire family story in an interview he did since he was dontaing our family photos to a Museum in Ternopil dedicated to the Halychyna Division of the SS. So, it's well documented my family are NAZIs.
The only reason I figured out my family was in the SS is because I was Googling my name typed in Ukrainian and saw my uncle giving this interview in Ukrainian on Ukrainian TV. Hit me like a ton of bricks. Now I don't know what to do lol
My entire paternal side left Ukraine shortly after WW2. In the US, our surname had 3 spellings ending in "tzkiwsky", "ckiwsky", and "ckowsky". I'm kind of jealous of our cousins with the tzkiwsky spelling since I have the "ckowsky" spelling and no one prounces the "c" like the "c" in "dance", rather pronouncing it like the "c" in "cat". My family in New Jersey originally had "-ckiwsky" but changed it to "-"-tzkiwsky" most likely so people would pronounce it correctly. Our family here in NY should have honestly done the same.
My father's family never really belonged in the US. They originally came here in 1905, and moved back to Ukraine in 1929 because they hated living here. They were forced to come back after WW2 due to being in the Halychyna Division. The entire family with my surname moved back here. In the 60s one of my dad's uncle tried to go back to our home village but was arrested by the Soviets upon his return.
My family never really made many strides here. They own a bunch of property but one one ever had kids. Out of the three man with the "tzkiwsky" suffix on our name, none had kids. My family here in NY is in the same situation. My father married my mother in 1996 and I was born in 1997. The only reason my mom married my father was because of his parents being from Ukraine just like her parents were. They were married until 1998.
My dad didn't want much to do with my when I was an infant. Once I was around 5 he started wanting to spend time with me. His family had a dairy farm in Upstate NY. I remember the farm pretty well and I really loved growing up on the farm. In the mid 2000s my dad's family sold the farm and my dad became a truck driver. He ended up becoming very abusive. He always would get drunk and break stuff, yell and curse, and he hated my grandmother Olga a lot. Always blaming her for everything. She always thought my dad would kill her. He'd always do the NAZI salute in front of her and say "heil Hitler" when he was drunk. I was much older when I found out my family was in the SS, but it made sense why he did this. My grandfather was also abusive to my dad on the farm and with my family's ties to the SS, he most likely was just mimicking what his dad was like.
Needless to say, I really hated going to my dads house but I liked my grandmother so that's why I went. My family was Catholic technically but the only person who went to church was my grandmother. My dad never let her take me because he said that going to church was "only for women". I really wish I got to spend more time with her. In 2013 she finally moved into her own apartment to get away from my father. She died this year. My last grandparent as she was the youngest of them passing away at 96.
I don't talk to my dad anymore. As there's no difference between him being drunk or sober at this point. I went to college and have a good paying job. I made sure to stay away from alcohol abd do the opposite of what my father did in his life.
I'm not sure what I should do. My whole life I have been interested in Ukrainian culture, language, and possibly moving to Ukraine.
It's kind of awkward because I've been told I look very Ukrainian by newer arrivals from Ukraine. All of the ones I've met who came here recently are Evangelicals (specifically Pentecostal) so when they ask if my family goes to their church I have to explain to them that no, they're Catholic because we came a half century before all of you due to being kicked out of Ukraine for joining the NAZIs.
Met a few Ukrainian girls recently but never got a second date having to sit there and explain the whole NAZI thing to them. I might just want to leave out that we went back in 1929.
I just don't want to lie because my name is very rare as I said and my uncle (who travels to Ukraine all the time) went on Suspilne Ternopil (Television channel) and told my entire family story in an interview he did since he was dontaing our family photos to a Museum in Ternopil dedicated to the Halychyna Division of the SS. So, it's well documented my family are NAZIs.
The only reason I figured out my family was in the SS is because I was Googling my name typed in Ukrainian and saw my uncle giving this interview in Ukrainian on Ukrainian TV. Hit me like a ton of bricks. Now I don't know what to do lol
26-30, M
