OKSANA STRUK

Medical Technologist

Date and Place of Birth: 1936 in Solotvyna, Ukraine

Date of Interview: September 21, 2016

Place of Interview: Toronto, Ontario

Interviewer: Zoriana Kilyk

Length of Interview: 01:51:57 (raw)

(Excerpt):

Interviewer: Do you consider yourself to be a) Ukrainian   b)  Ukrainian Canadian, or American c) Canadian Ukrainian or d) Canadian?

OS:  That is a complex question. In Canada, I am Canadian. When I cross over the Peace Bridge, then I feel American. When I am in Ukraine, I feel Ukrainian. I convinced my mother to be buried in her village, Mohylyany.

Interviewer: Why was this important for you?

OS: My mother's great-grandfather gave land for the church and the cemetery. And I say, and me? I don't want to be anywhere because I don't belong anywhere. When people ask me "where are you from?" then I ask them "how far back do you want me to go?" Because I have some memories from Ukraine, I have fantastic memories from Kaufbeuren where I was for 4 years, from 8 years old to 12, and those were very foundational years where I was a part of the city and to this day I feel, not to the Nazis, but to the German language, to that way of life, a sort of reverence. So I can say all three at the same time

CROSS REFERENCES:

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