If Jewish people are the "People of the Book," then our great-grandmothers were our "Books." 

Successfully navigating between two air raid alarms to reach a local shop and complete a purchase is a testament to the balancing act built on intuition and the ability to adapt to any situation that Homo Post-Sovietkus has developed. In terms of survival skills, this generation stands on the shoulders of giants for whom it was a primary profession.

Reflecting on the biographies of my relatives who died their own deaths but lived during the First World War, the October Revolution, the First National Liberation War, the Holodomor, Stalinist repressions, the German occupation, famine, and Stalinist repressions once again, it becomes evident that the dry remnant of their lives was mere survival, or rather, procreation.

I use the word "mere" with a degree of irony, for this was a complex and sophisticated science, where heroism, rotten compromises with reality, escapism, quiet sabotage, moderate dissidence, eternal nothing in the pocket, resentment, duplicity, constant self-censorship, and fear all had a place.

Looking back on my family's history in the 20th century, I am increasingly convinced that it was the women who carried us out, tooth and nail, from the fire. The long-lived women of the old heart, the matriarchs around whom life was built, and who were wholly committed to one simple function - continuing the family. They are the true sources of our strength and resilience today.

Looking back on my family's history in the 20th century, I am increasingly convinced that it was the women who carried us out, tooth and nail, from the fire. The long-lived women of the old heart, the matriarchs around whom life was built, and who were wholly committed to one simple function - continuing the family. They are the true sources of our strength and resilience today.

I consider it a great miracle in life to have known people born in the 19th century, who remembered a life that was not Soviet but imperial, a life before the sea of blood from 1914-1953 that severed the link with history. These individuals possessed an old-world quality that helped them survive the most brutal periods of world history until the 1980s. Their memories of an alternative, non-Soviet life were crucial to all of us.

Two great-grandmothers from my family, Teklya and Józefa, stand out in my memory as the pillars of our family's strength. Although none of my great-grandfathers lived long enough to see my birth, my great-grandmothers were always revered, even after their deaths, like holy icons because of their extraordinary lives. Their influence was felt by all their descendants, including myself, who are here today thanks to them.

Two great-grandmothers from my family, Teklya and Józefa, stand out in my memory as the pillars of our family's strength. Although none of my great-grandfathers lived long enough to see my birth, my great-grandmothers were always revered

These are the individuals who were born into families where only 3-4 out of 10-12 children survived.

They are the ones who witnessed the death and destruction of Ukrainian villages during the 19th century wars and the oppression of the lords but still kept their spirit alive.

They are the ones who buried their loved ones and neighbors in mass graves during the Holodomor and then turned away from those graves for the rest of their lives, haunted by a sense of guilt for surviving when they were not supposed to.

They are the ones who faced Soviet collectivism alone, labeled as "the wife of the enemy of the people."

They even viewed the German occupation as a brief relief (!) from the unrelenting Soviet terror.

They didn't have passports until the mid-seventies and were not allowed to stay in Soviet hotels in the capital of the Ukrainian SSR.

They held onto family heirlooms, such as a photograph of the family before the sole breadwinner's murder, the only picture of their husband, or a single letter, and served as reservoirs of memory.

If the Jews are the "People of the Book," then our great-grandmothers were our "Books." They held the sky for us, just like the Armed Forces do today. Perhaps they continue to support and empower us from heaven. It's essential to remember this. Teklya and Yózefa. I remember.

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About the author. Andrii Bondar, writer.

The editors do not always share the opinions expressed by the blog authors.