Different Colour of Borsch
Yvonne Zarowny, Qualicum Beach, BC
Volume 38 Issue 1, 2, & 3 | Posted: April 2, 2023
The Editor:
What a difference a century makes!
Being a WWII baby boomer, I can remember when peoples, particularly those from Eastern Europe, were called ‘DP’s’ (short for ‘displaced persons/people’).
This was not something of which to be proud – as if people have a choice to leave their destroyed homes with virtually nothing – because of war.
We were brought up knowing my paternal grand-father immigrated prior to ‘the’ wars (remember – WWI was marketed as ‘the war to end all wars’.)
We were brought up being told we were ‘Polish’ and definitely not ‘Ukrainian’.
‘They’ were of a lesser people (and ate a different colour of borsch).
My family name is actually from a region in Central Europe that is now part of Ukraine.
Now it is a okay to be a refugee from Ukraine.
When we got our paternal grandfather’s passport (he immigrated at turn of last century) – it was ‘Austria-Hungarian’.
Who were the folks whom ‘we’ had just trounced in 2 deadly wars.
Perhaps it is past time for us to drop these labels as well as put all our resources into building peace through social/ecological justice and a critical awareness of history.
Yvonne Zarowny,
Qualicum Beach, BC
Yvonne Zarowny, Qualicum Beach, BC