Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with ukraine

Poles from Lviv/Lwow - emigration or forced resettlement?

mdonley — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 13:21:04 -0800

At the end of World War II, would a Polish-ethnicity girl/young woman and her family from Lwów/Lviv have been given the option of moving west of the Curzon line to post-war Poland, or would they have been forcibly resettled? On a train from Warsaw to Bydgoszcz today, I met a woman in her seventies or eighties who was telling me about her childhood. Like many older people in the western part of what is now Poland, her roots go back to the areas which belonged to Poland between 1919-1939 and no longer do.

My Polish wasn't good enough to pick out much more than this:

• She was born in Lwów/Lviv.
• "In the 1940s", according to her, she moved to what is now Poland. Soon after this, she went to university in Gliwice, near Katowice, perhaps at the Silesian University of Technology (my own guess - she didn't say, but their Wikipedia page turned up that many of Lwów/Lviv Polytechnic's professors and curricula ended up there.
• She met her husband after she left Gliwice, while they were both studying in Szczecin.
• She now lives in Bydgoszcz.

While I've consulted the Wikipedia article on the Repatriation of Poles (1944-1946) here and found this book (which, from the title, seems perhaps less than objective?), I don't have much in the way of English-language sources for what it was like for those moving/being moved.

I realize this is a really specific question, but any additional information you can provide would be amazing. Thank you!

Supposes my toeses?

gallusgallus — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 17:32:45 -0800

Can someone help me figure out the meaning of this toe-based Eastern European nursery rhyme? This was a favorite one with my grandmother; she was Ukrainian/Austrian in lineage, so I'm guessing the language is Ukrainian, but it might also be a borrowing from Polish/Slovak/Russian/etc. neighbors.

It worked a little like the Five Little Piggies rhyme in English. Phonetically, it went:

Hodick (or "hodig"??),
Bubbick,
Chichinitchka,
Kookawitchka,
And staaatty chook, chook, chook!

As she said the first line, she squeezed the big toe, then onwards across the foot, until at the last line she grabbed the pinkie toe and shook it violently back and forth (much squealing ensuing from the child).

I'd love to know what these lines might actually mean, and if anyone else has heard of this rhyme. Oh, and apologies for my horrible, horrible transliteration-- I'll be happy to answer any follow-up questions about specific sounds, if it might help. Thanks!!

Gifts to bring to an office in Ukraine from the US?

phoenixy — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 21:38:32 -0800

Gifts to bring to an office in Ukraine from the US? I am going on a business trip from Boston to Lviv and would like to bring some appropriate gifts--ideally, something American, not too too expensive, and that is hard to get over there. The best would be something that could be enjoyed by everyone in the office, although there is a core group of three people I could just get things for.

What should I bring?

When people say "the Ukraine", is the "the" incorrect?

bartleby — Thu, 07 May 2009 12:05:14 -0800

Pete's hot new girlfriend is Ukranian. Pete's hot new girlfriend is from Ukraine. Pete's hot new girlfriend is from the Ukraine. I've heard all 3, and the third, with the "the" - is that correct? On the one hand, if she was Hungarian, no one would say she was from "the Hungary".

On the other hand, maybe....that-country-that-is-always-so-hard-to-conquer-when-playing-Risk; perhaps it's considered a geographical entity, like "the Yucatan" or "the Balkans"?

Is the "the" ever proper, or is this just broken / incorrect English?

Russian brides via the internet - do they work?

vizsla — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 13:32:47 -0800

I have a friend whose friends are Russian brides who got married via an internet site. I'm wondering how long these types of marriages tend to last and what they are like. Are there any blogs or research about experiences of these kinds of relationships?

Where to Stay in Kiev, Ukraine?

zaelic — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 16:44:19 -0800

Kiev, Ukraine, accomodations in mid May. Any suggestions? I will be in Kiev for two days on my own after a bit of work in mid May, and have searched the web and guide books for a reasonable (under EU 100 - i.e. US $150 per night) place to stay with my wife. Most sites and travel books are out of date. Phone numbers don't reach, emails not returned. Have called a few places but reception doesn't speak English. I would really rather not stay at a babushka's flat... any advice will be eventually toasted in absentia with the best vodka... Standard, proably...

I'm chicken 'bout kyev

monkey!knife!fight! — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 07:21:28 -0800

I'm thinking about moving to Kyev. My company has offices all over the world. I've been offered a position in the office in Kyev, Ukraine, and tomorrow I'm leaving to go check it out. I've been scouring the internets to find out as much as I can about the city, but I'm hoping someone with some firsthand knowledge can help me out.

I'll be visiting the office, of course, to make sure that I feel it's a good fit, but what in the city should I go see? What neighborhoods would be good for a 35 year old single woman who's "artsy"? Speaking of which, I have heard there's a good art scene, what is the music scene like?

I currently live in Chicago (in an area know as the "Ukrainian Village" strangely enough) and have lived in Frankfurt Germany for a bit, but I'm pretty sure this is going to be culture shockie. Any and all info is welcomed and appreciated. Thanks!

need a local in unkraine to do a cemetary photo shoot.

Izzmeister — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 15:37:40 -0800

Help me find someone in ukraine that would take pictures of old tombstones in a small town. I am trying to get information about my great great grandparents. from people I have spoken to, the cemetary was not destroyed by the Nazis and should be in decent shape.

Help me find someone somehow that can go and take pictures of the gravestones (they are in hebrew, so I would not expect him to be able to read them) in the town. I'd pay of course.

The Town is Storozhinets/ Strojonet in Ukraine
48°10' / 25°43'
“Storozynetz - Bukowina"
[http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/storojinet/about_storojinet.htm]

Polish/Ukrainian Film Recommendations

rinkjustice — Wed, 19 Jul 2006 19:54:01 -0800

I'd like recommendations for Polish or Ukrainian historical documentaries or fact-based films. My family from my mother's side is Ukrainian and Polish, and I'd like to learn more about the turbulent social/political/economical past of these two countries - any time period. I'm doing the genealogy for these families and I'm hoping your recommended films give me a fuller understanding of the lives they lived.

Many thanks.

How do I get my hijacked domain back?

slater — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 23:49:12 -0800

My website domain went to the Ukraine. Any chance of getting it back? I used to own the domain "slater.ch" (CH = Switzerland, before anyone gets confused), for which I forgot to pay the outstanding domain bill. Of course, as soon as it lapsed, some guy in the Ukraine nabbed it. Namely, according to whois:

Alexander Litvinov
Politechnicheskaya 13
UA-03056 Kiev
Ukraine

He holds other, previously registered swiss domains (llb-be.ch being the one he uses as nameservers for "my" domain), so i'm going to assume he's a domain squatter.

I'm perfectly willing to pay him some money for it, but before anything like that happens, I'd like to get in touch with him (maybe he doesn't want money?).

So my question is, apart from hoping the address he's given in the whois is correct and sending him a postcard, are there any other ways of getting in touch with him? The swiss registration place can't give out his email address, as that's private.

Any MeFi people in Kiev?

Ukranian wedding customs, what to know?

absquatulate — Fri, 10 Mar 2006 08:27:53 -0800

A friend of mine (from the U.S.) is marrying a woman from the Ukraine in a month or so. His mother is throwing her a bridal shower in the States and I'd like to make her feel welcome... As far as I know she has spent limited time in the U.S. and all of it since becoming engaged to my friend. She speaks little English (primarily Russian I've heard) and I'm sure moving from outside of Kiev to Flordia will be a big cultural change for her. Do any MeFis have any suggestions for making her feel welcome and (somewhat more) at ease for the bridal shower? Are there any presents or traditions that are considered appropriate or inappropriate for either the shower or the wedding? Thanks in advance for the help!

Giant sausages full of what?

MonkeySaltedNuts — Tue, 24 Jan 2006 15:22:45 -0800

In this photo, does anybody know what these bicycle riders are transporting in the giant sausages? Does the Russian caption (which I don't read) explain it?

No, it is not the theme to Tetris.

I EAT TAPAS — Mon, 11 Jul 2005 21:07:46 -0800

NameThatRussianFolkTuneFilter: a friend into shortwave radio picked up this song over the airwaves, recorded it to tape for posterity, and has been transfixed since -- but doesn't know what it is or who's singing. It's a long-shot, but can someone ID this?

LondonSatelliteTelevisionFilter

Optamystic — Sun, 29 May 2005 06:28:19 -0800

She's from Ukraine. I'm from the States. We'll be living in London, UK for the foreseeable future. Are there any satellite television options that will allow us to view programs broadcast from our respective home countries? Judging from Google, Sky has a pretty solid lock on Satellite TV in the UK but the the packages that they offer do not fit our needs. Is there a roll-your-own solution?

graduate student searching for grant money to support a research project in Ukraine

milkman — Thu, 20 Jan 2005 14:02:56 -0800

I am a graduate student searching for grant money to support a research project in Ukraine this summer. I don't go to a fancy school and i've never done this before (more inside). i'm in a terminal MA program at SFSU (one of the California State University campuses) in International Relations.

It's a good project, looking at how identity is constructed and conflicts between emerging (created) ethncities and emerging (constructed) nationalities, how they intersect and inform each other. I'm collaborating with a Ukrainian native who is also in the program. We believe that our conclusions will have implications about the future shape of Europe, NATO, and potential Sino-Russian alliances.

The time to go is soon for this, so there's no time for fulbright scholarship applications and all that. But we need a couple thousand dollars to cover travel expenses.

Any thoughts?

Ukraine vs. The Ukraine

hal incandenza — Fri, 26 Nov 2004 19:23:32 -0800

Ukraine vs. The Ukraine. Is the latter outdated now that Ukraine is an independent nation? Do Ukranians feel strongly about the difference? I hear people refer to it both ways.