When the Past Meets the Present

My Grandfather’s Mill Journey to Freedom By Andrew Melnyk

Xlibris 398 pages       

Book Review by Alex Chumak

It seems that Andrew Melnyk has it all. As a high school principal in Ontario, he had phenomenal success in preventing young people from dropping out from school. As a father, his two sons have achieved tremendous success – one son a doctor while the other is the head of the history department in a secondary school. His relationship with his wife reads like a love-story – they have been married since 1969.

These appear to be ingredients of a successful man – good marriage, exemplary children and a challenging career.

However, there was something missing in his life. Andrew struggled to define it, but each time he came close, it became elusive. Elusive until 1993, when a group of teachers from the Toronto area invited Andrew to accompany them to Ukraine to teach prospective school principals how to administer schools.

Andrew then found what was eluding him – the search for his and his wife’s roots.

This was the motivation for Andrew to write a personal history – My Grandfather’s Mill.

But, in reading this, what appears to be a personal account, is in fact a history of Ukraine, Canada, the U.S., and Europe interwoven with personal observations. Andrew has succeeded in contributing to the history of Ukrainians in North America, albeit on a personal basis. His ability to juxtapose historical events with personal experiences is exceptional.

The reader is taken on a journey of escaping Nazism, Communism, surviving the ravages of world wars, life in Displaced Persons Camps, the impact of the Holodomor and survival under totalitarian regimes. His family, coupled with accounts from his wife’s relatives, all give personal eye witness descriptions of survival, escape and eventual return to an independent Ukraine to assess these occurrences on their present day lives. Contrasting the past with the present is the basis of this book.

My Grandfather’s Mill is a fascinating read - it puts into perspective
what many families have experienced. On the one hand, Melnyk’s book is an original, on the other, every Ukrainian who immigrated to Canada or the U.S. can claim some sense of ownership. In short, it is a universal story.

Each of his 20 chapters examines the family trek in historical detail. Part one deals with Andrew’s and his wife’s family trees and family constellations. In part two, the reader’s eyes are opened to “the war to end all wars” and how Melnyk’s and his wife’s family survived.

In the “War Between Wars”, part three of the book, Melnyk describes the Holodomor and how, it has been repressed and denied in Ukraine. It is almost ironic that educators from Ontario had to instruct Ukrainian teachers about the famine-genocide in Ukraine. Melnyk paints vivid pictures in his memoirs how this was accomplished.

Most of us can relate to part four – the Second World War and its impact on Ukraine and its population. Indeed, it is a sad, horrendous and traumatic account of persecutions, mass murders, and other crimes against humanity. Melnyk accurately depicts this period as he describes the Nazi and Communist domination of Ukraine and its deplorable treatment of Ukrainians.

The remaining sections of My Grandfather’s Mill describe how the Melnyks and his wife’s family escaped the reign of terror. Their detailed escape is the stuff of movies filled with danger, suspense and almost incredible close brushes with death. Having succeeded in escaping, life in Displaced Persons Camps is described in detail.

The final part of the book is the integration of the Melnyk Family to the North American way of life, and the love story of how he met his wife. Both Andrew Melnyk and his wife Chrystyna Tatomyr co-incidentally experienced similar histories before meeting and settling down.

My Grandfather’s Mill or a “Journey to Freedom” is a testimonial to all Ukrainian families sharing similar experiences. Melnyk possesses an uncanny ability to personalise history and  make it a living memory. He succeeded in finding his roots.

Book excerpts can be viewed at www.andrewmelnyk.com Contact the author at amelnyk@hotmail.com

To order My Grandfather’s Mill, call 888 795-4274 ext. 7876. Order on-line at www.Xlibris.com Price: $19.99 U.S./ $24.99 CDN; Hardcover $29.99  U.S. / $34.99 CDN

Also available at www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, www.borders.com

Alex Chumak is a former school trustee and a lecturer at Ryerson University in Toronto