September 14, 2017. Among the guests at the commemoration events in Burgdorf this summer were three former residents of Camp Ohio who were children at the time.
Gene Rurka was born in Celle in 1947. In 1950 he and his mother Paraskewia immigrated to the USA.
Gene Rurka with his wife Marianne in Burgdorf in 2017. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)
Roman Berezowsky was born in 1941 in Poznan. He came to Camp Ohio as a small child after he and his parents escaped from a camp in the Soviet sector in Germany. Later his paternal grandparents joined the family in the camp, and all of them immigrated to Canada in 1948.
Roman Berezowsky with his wife Marilyn in Burgdorf in 2017. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)
ALLA SAUCH was born in 1935 in what is now Khoroshiv, Ukraine. She came to Camp Ohio with her mother Maria after they had been in two previous camps. They immigrated to the USA in 1952.
Alla with her husband Richard Rusz in Burgdorf in 2017. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)
It was wonderful to come back and see how people and Burgdorf itself had changed over the years. Marilyn Berezowsky expressed it for all of us: “It was like a family reunion. And soooo emotional. So pleased that we made it.”
More about the events in Burgdorf to come in the next blog entry! If you have any stories, photos, or documents you are willing to share about these events, or of Camp Ohio, please comment on this blog, or email to dariadv@yahoo.ca.
© Daria Valkenburg
Camp Ohio Research Project 