While I've previously noted that I hope to do my final project on my family history (on my Father's side) I've yet to explain why I was drawn to do so. The truth is that such a project has been on my mind for a long time. before the course even began. I knew I wanted to research and map out my father's family history, but I wasn't sure what format the completed findings should take. I wanted them to be more lasting and consequential than just a collection of papers in a file folder. When I came across the description for the Digital Humanities course at the end of last semester, it seemed like the perfect fit- right now I have some vague ideas about a website, but I think as the course goes further along I will find more specific digital tools to present the history beyond just publishing text and photos online.
The spark for investigating my father's family history came from an experience at my Baba's (Grandmother's) house when I was around nine or ten. A stack of mail was sitting on her kitchen table and I saw an envelope that had what looked like German language on it. Asking my father about it, he explained that the envelope was part of a series of cheques my Baba was receiving from the German government as a kind of pension from being in a work camps during World War II."
I was floored. Ever since I was little, my family had celebrated Ukrainian traditions and Orthodox holidays. I knew a few words of Ukrainian, and my father had his family had always encouraged that my sister, cousins and I knew about Ukrainian culture. I knew that the Szpurkos had come over to Canada at the end of WWII from Ukraine, and even that they had waited for passage in a displaced persons camp. But for some reason, I had never considered the fact that they were subject to Nazi persecution. Largely what I knew about WWII was the persecution of Jews,"Gypsies", homosexuals and the mentally and physically disabled. Knowing that my family had been Orthodox Gentile Ukrainians, I truly had no idea of their political history and how they were affected them during the war. Now realising how little I knew, I had an intense drive to put everything together, both for myself and the family.
Like so many immigrant families, when the Szpurkos came to Canada they had next to nothing. Because of both this and the state they had to leave Europe in, it was very hard to maintain things like photographs and letters. My Baba salvaged what she could, but it is not much to go on when trying to put together a comprehensive family background pre-Canada. When I asked my Baba to talk about her life in Ukraine, her response was, "Those were such sad times. No one wants to hear about that." I tried to explain that I and my sister and cousins wanted to hear, but it makes sense that she would not want to dwell on the past, and it felt wrong to try and push her just so I could have answers.
I let the project slip to the background for a few years, until one of my father's birthdays. His sister had given him a photo album with pictures she had managed to find in my Baba's house of when they were children and teenagers, and incredibly- a picture of his grandparents on both sides. I would pull out that album at look at those pictures constantly, and I realised that the urge to piece together my family history wasn't going to go away, and that I should start as soon as I could.
It has proved a daunting task. Even finding the barest bones of information is incredibly difficult for a few reasons- many records are simply lost or unfindable, and many of the records from the war aren't in public domain. Added to that is the fact that I have so little information to start with. However, my cousin Jessica has been doing some research on her own time and had found what might be some promising leads. The timing of this course is perfect, as it gives me the chance to devote my full attention to the task and see what resources and help I might be able to get from the university. I think that it is really now or never for me to put my nose to the grindstone and get my family history together once and for all.
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Vanessa, this is a great motivation for the project. Dealing with traumatic episodes is a real challenge for family history (and wider history), but they are important stories to share. (It would be neat if you had that envelope still!)
ReplyDeleteHey Vanessa! I think you are taking on a very interesting and moving project for sure! My family needed to trace back our history to my grandparents' birth, marriage, immigration, death, and citizenship documents in order to apply for our Italian Citizenship (which was successful). One thing you could do is see if there is a way of contacting the cityhalls of the cities/towns/villages or region where your grandparents in the Ukraine came from. There might be a way to request copies certain forms and transcripts such as birth certificates, marriage licences and so forth from online or perhaps with a letter/email. You could even ask the Ukraining consulate general in Toronto or embassy in Ottawa if they have any tips or suggestions on how to do that, as well as a solution to language logistics. Often old records might have been archived for tax purposes and landownership claims (Depending what was left by the Communist government). But check it out! There might even be info on your great and great-greatgrandparents, or at least background information on their communities and neighbourhoods.
ReplyDeleteAnother suggestion that I have for you, is if you would like to spread some of the information your search turns up, you could submit some of the files to sites such as Ancestry.ca as well as keeping your own format for them. It would be great to spread such information around to different avenues of accessibility.
This seems like a great idea for a project. I understand it may be difficult to find the information and specific details necessary to complete it. But even if you were to digitize the information you already have, you could still create something interesting.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I think if you are really struggling you could always use it as an opportunity to do a basic history of Canadian immigration, maybe focusing on your specific heritage or whatever you feel works.
Regardless, this seems like an extremely interesting idea, and I feel the impulse to do the same with my family history.