Are You Interested In A Camp Ohio Reunion In North America?

May 27, 2018.  As we approach the one year anniversary since a number of us met in Burgdorf for a very special Camp Ohio reunion, a few people have commented on how nice it would be if we could have another reunion, but this time in North America.  Some of the participants who were in Burgdorf wondered if a reunion held in North America in 2019 would be of interest to people, particularly those who were unable to come to Germany in 2017.

Here is what Marilyn Berezowsky, who was in Burgdorf last year with her husband Roman, had to say about her experience:  “Last year my husband, Roman and I were fortunate to attend a Camp Ohio ‘reunion’ in Burgdorf, Germany. My husband, as a young child with his parents, lived in the camp for three years following the end of WWII. Up until our trip to Burgdorf, he had not told me very much about those early years of his life experience. Once we arrived at the train station, we were greeted by a volunteer who took us under his wing and drove us to our hotel, where we met other visitors and volunteers. We were quickly made to feel ‘at home’. It was such a privilege for me to witness the entire event from start to finish. I equate the experience to a family reunion, where there are mixed emotions and shared stories. It was a life changing experience for my husband as well as me. Forgotten memories flowed back to my husband and he began to talk positively about his experience living in Camp Ohio. In the brief time we were guests of the town of Burgdorf, friendships were forged. We appreciate all the hard work and long hours of planning and organization that went into this very successful event.”  

Pieter and I also had very positive memories of the event, and were awed at the number of volunteers who helped make it such a success.

While we can’t hope to recreate such an event as was held in Burgdorf, we are willing to consider a reunion in 2019 in Prince Edward Island (on the east coast of Canada) if there is sufficient interest.  It would be a chance to meet up with old friends, make new ones, share memories and photos. And, if you’ve never been to Prince Edward Island, you’re in for a treat:  See https://www.tourismpei.com/

Here is a survey of interest that we hope you will be willing to fill out (even if the answer is ‘not interested’), which will help in deciding if a North America reunion is feasible, and to have an idea of what participants would like to do during a reunion:  Preliminary Inquiry re Interest in a Camp Ohio Reunion

Please return this survey by July 15, 2018.  If there is support for a reunion, this will give us time to organize and plan.

Do you have any anecdotes to share about Camp Ohio?  Comments can be made on this blog or by sending an email to dariadv@yahoo.ca. Don’t forget to check out the photos on our website at http://www.dpcamps.org/burgdorf.html.

© Daria Valkenburg

 

 

The Mermaids of Camp Colorado Photo

May 23, 2018.  One of the ongoing activities of the Camp Ohio Research Project is photo identification.  As you can imagine, over 70 years later, it can be a challenge to find people who recognize who is in a photo.  Sometimes we get multiple copies of a photo, with one or two people identified, and then we can put the various identities together.  This blog posting is the story of one of those photos.

The photo below was not taken at Camp Ohio, but in nearby Camp Colorado in Hänigsen.  We first were sent the photo by the son of Emma SHOVK. Emma is identified by the yellow arrow, and lived in Camp Colorado with her husband Ilya before immigrating to Australia.  Since it was a Camp Colorado photo, and only Emma was identified, the picture was set aside as being outside the Camp Ohio Research Project.

Then, a few years later we received the same photo from Alla Rusz, nee SAUCH, identified by the blue arrow. Alla lived in both Camp Ohio and in Camp Colorado with her mother Maria.  Now living in the USA, Alla noted that “Emma Shovk was the dancer who taught us various dances for the occasional performances.  I am one of the ‘mermaids’ in that picture.  There were a number of very talented artists in Camp Colorado who put forth great efforts to give the children in the camp a semblance of a normal life.  I will always be grateful for their involvement and dedication  at a time in our lives that was void of all purpose and opportunities.  I hope I will have the opportunity to meet Emma’s son.”

As yet, a face to face meeting between Emma’s son Phillip, who lives in Australia, and Alla hasn’t happened.  However, Alla attended last summer’s commemoration event in Burgdorf, and after a blog posting in which this same photo was published (See Children In Camp Ohio – Then and Now), we were contacted by Nikita AFANASIEFF, now living in the USA.  He’d recognized himself in the photo (see green arrow) and remembered Alla.

It was Nikita who told us the photo was from a children’s performance of ‘Rusalka’, based on an unfinished poem, ‘Rusalka’ by Alexander Pushkin. ‘Rusalka’ is also an opera in four acts by Alexander Dargomyzhsky, composed during 1848-1855, adapted from Pushkin’s poem. The last act features a ballet, which is the basis of this photo.  The plot: a maiden who, after being jilted by a prince, drowns herself. (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rusalka_(Dargomyzhsky)) In Slavic mythology, a ‘rusalka’ is similar to a Celtic mermaid or a Greek siren, and is translated into English as ‘mermaid’.

We now had three identifications, and that unlocked memories.  Very quickly, Yuri SOLSKI and Victor BOHENSKY were identified.  Yuri’s father taught ground engineering and general agriculture at the Agricultural School in Camp Ohio.  (See The Agricultural School in Camp Ohio). Victor’s father, aunt, and uncle were members of the Vera Severnaya Ensemble, along with Emma Shovk’s husband. This group gave concerts at various displaced persons camps. Emma and Ilya Shovk were also members of the Musical Wanderers ensemble, who went from camp to camp, including Camp Ohio, as entertainers under a program with the United Nations.

Playbill for Musical Wanderers. (Photo courtesy of P. Shovk collection)

Valya SHITKOV and Nina KILCZEWSKI were also identified, as was the first name of a third person, Mery.  Everyone involved in this photo identification is hoping that the rest of the children can be identified.

Before she immigrated to the USA, Alla and her mother were in a displaced persons camp in Oerrel. She’s hoping, through this blog, to find her friend Maria PANCHENKO, who immigrated with her brothers Anatolij and Mykola and their parents to the USA from Oerrel.

Now retired, Alla Rusz taught German and Russian at one of the City Colleges in Chicago, as well as ESL (English as a Second Language).  She noted that “I had students from all over the world in my classes, which infected me with the traveling bug. So, after my children were grown up, my husband and I traveled to many of the countries from which my students had come. We still do, although, that is becoming more and more of a challenge.”

An accomplished concert pianist and lecturer in piano and collaborative piano at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music at the University of Sydney, Phillip Shovk explained that “My mother always loved to dance. She had studied classical ballet in Rostov before the war and recalled being often asked to dance at parties and gatherings as she did it so well. Her ability to dance led to her meeting my father in Hannover with the Musical Wanderers ensemble which resulted in them marrying and eventually immigrating to Australia. As a young boy growing up I remember watching her dancing at parties in our house, usually in more of a Gypsy style, particularly when the vodka was flowing …. Watching classical ballet with her on television was also elucidating as she would always look at the hands first – ‘you can tell a good ballerina by her hands’, she would say…..”

Thank you to Phillip, Alla, and Nikita for your recollections!  If you recognize any of the names in this photo or are able to identify anyone else, please let us know. Do you have any anecdotes to share about Camp Ohio?  Comments can be made on this blog or by sending an email to dariadv@yahoo.ca. Don’t forget to check out the photos on our website at http://www.dpcamps.org/burgdorf.html.

© Daria Valkenburg

 

 

The Romanians In Camp Ohio

May 4, 2018.  Camp Ohio is well known for having had a large Ukrainian population, and that is the group that has been most active in sharing information and photos about the residents and life in the camp.  We are also aware of residents from Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia who lived in Camp Ohio, and have a few photos from these groups.

There were other nationalities that passed through Camp Ohio, at least in the first while that the camp was in existence.  In a journal kept by former resident Bohdan KOWAL, he noted that when he arrived in Camp Ohio on August 6, 1945, about 200 Romanian men, former military prisoners, were living in the camp. We don’t know what happened to these men, nor do we have names.  Most likely, if they were prisoners of war, they were repatriated back to Romania.

By September 1945, however, there were more Romanians in Camp Ohio, who had fled their country ahead of the Soviet Army.  We only know about them as they wrote Refusal of Repatriation letters to the Camp Commander.  Unfortunately, the fate of these Romanians is also unknown.

The Refusal of Repatriation letters were written in German or Romanian, and were translated with the help of volunteers.  Pieter Valkenburg translated the letters that were written in German. Ed Rozylowicz, who was a child in the displaced persons Camp Wildflecken, asked several of his Romanian speaking cousins to translate the letters written in Romanian.  This research project relies on volunteers to help with translation and we were very lucky to have such support.

 The list of Romanians who wrote Refusal of Repatriation letters is as follows:

• Joana BERCIA
• Michail DEUTSCHLÄNDER
• Vasile DIACONU
• Anna GHAMAN
• Marie HASKE
• Franz HEMEN          
• Elena HUDEMA
• Maria HUDEMA
• Ioan ISPAS
• Josef LEFFLER
• Lica LEOPA
• Maria SCHUSTER
• Bogdan TRAIAN
• Victor URAS
• Nicolai VISCREANU           

If you recognize any of these names, happen to know what happened to them, or have a photo of anyone mentioned above, please let us know. Do you have any anecdotes to share about Camp Ohio?  Comments can be made on this blog or by sending an email to dariadv@yahoo.ca. Don’t forget to check out the photos on our website at http://www.dpcamps.org/burgdorf.html.

© Daria Valkenburg