Helen moved to Thomasville in 1979 after decades of living in Philadelphia.  Helen, originally Хелен, but officially changed to Helen upon arrival into the United States, she was born in an Ukrainian Displaced Prisoners Camp in Germany.  She immigrated to the USA with her parents following their abduction and imprisonment during WW2.  Helen was graciously willing to share pieces of her late mother’s story of what it was like living in such a reality. 

Suggestions for further reading:

White Guard, by Mikhail Bulgakov

Lucky Breaks, by Yevgenia Belorusets

Red Famine: Stalin's War on Ukraine, by Anne Applebaum