We Must Support Ukraine.

The unprovoked invasion of Ukraine by Putin is a horrific turn of events that has hit close-to-home for my family. The situation unfolding in Ukraine is a repeat of historical events that my family endured decades ago. My wife is a first-generation Pole, who’s father, grandparents, aunts and uncles endured the hardships of war when Soviet troops invaded their lush family farm in (what was then) eastern Poland. Today the family’s farm is located within Ukraine’s borders. The family patriarch, Waclaw Ksiazek took up arms with the help of his eldest son (my father-in-law) Kazimierz (George) Ksiazek who was an adolescent at the time to do all they could to defend their farm and their homeland from the onslaught of Stahlin’s soldiers who eventually prevailed. The Russians captured their family farm and converted the large family farm house into their region’s headquarters, a harsh insult and reminder of the Soviet mind-set of “What’s yours is Mine”. The entire Ksiazek family was shipped off to a Siberian prison camp where they spent several years until their miraculous escape from the Gulag. The family made a treacherous journey through war-torn Europe to their destination in England and eventually migrated to the United States to make a new life for themselves in the 1950’s.

Putin’s “Special Military Operation” that was launched on February 24, 2022 looked a lot like September 17, 1939, when Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov declared that the Polish government has ceased to exist, and the U.S.S.R. exercised the “fine print” of the Hitler-Stalin Non-aggression pact—the invasion and occupation of eastern Poland. Hitler’s troops were already wreaking havoc in Poland, having invaded on the first of the month. The Polish army began retreating and regrouping. The Polish troops had jumped from the frying pan into the fire—as Soviet troops began occupying eastern Poland, where the Ksiazek family owned the largest farm in the region. The Ribbentrop-Molotov Non-aggression Pact, signed in August, had eliminated any hope Poland had of a Russian ally in a war against Germany. Little did Poles know that a secret clause of that pact, the details of which would not become public until 1990, gave the U.S.S.R. the right to mark off for itself a chunk of Poland’s eastern region. The “reason” given was that Russia had to come to the aid of its “blood brothers,” the Ukrainians and Byelorussians, who were trapped in territory that had been illegally annexed by Poland. Now Poland was squeezed from West and East—trapped between two behemoths. (1)

At this very moment in history, the Ukrainian people are fleeing to an unknown existence ahead. Those left behind are fighting with every breath to preserve the sovereignty of their homeland, in the same way that that our family members did in 1939. In 1990, Lech Walesa, newly elected Prime Minister of Poland and future Nobel Peace Prize Laureate awarded my wife’s grandfather, Waclaw Piotr Ksiazek the highest military and civilian medal of honor in recognition of his brave fight against Poland’s Soviet aggressors. It was a blessing and miracle that he lived long enough to receive that medal in person. My hope and prayers are that the Ukrainian people who are left to fight on their own would persevere with the same amount of bravery and fortitude that Waclaw and his son (my father-in-law) George did in 1939.  But Ukraine cannot do it alone, the people of Ukraine need our help. Refugees are fleeing to an unknown future and the fighters that remain need medicine and food to keep up their fight. I humbly ask that all of my friends and colleagues do all that they can to show support for Ukraine by boycotting Russian goods, writing to their leaders in Congress to encourage U.S. state-sponsored support and donate to non-governmental organizations (NGO’s) that provide food, shelter, medical aid and vital resources to the refugees, the children, and those left behind to fight their righteous cause to protect their homeland and liberty. I have included two links to make a donation to UNICEF and to The International Committee of Red Cross. If you have a community group or place of worship that has established an effort to support the Ukrainian people, please show your support in any way you can.

UNICEF:  https://www.unicef.org/emergencies/conflict-ukraine-pose-immediate-threat-children

 International Committee of Red Cross:  https://www.icrc.org/en/donate/ukraine

(1)  Source: History Channel, History.com Editors. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/soviet-union-invades-poland