This bit of family history was shared by our brother Steve when he visited our Pop (Moisi) in 2014, February 28th.
“Spent some time with my Dad today (while my house was being inundated by a mudslide), and we talked about his oldest brother Fedot who died in WW2 after stepping on a land mine. He is buried in this mass grave in Rostov. Another one of his brothers (Mike) was in Siberia mining coal during WW2. This brother was in Siberia for 18 years (the joke being he had a two year sentence but it took 16 years for the paperwork for his release to go through). This brother, Mikhail, forever held a grudge against Americans whom he claimed stole Russia’s gold. He witnessed them loading it onto ships.”
Putting together the bits and pieces of history we’ve learned here and there.
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 
…history can often be sad and complicated.
Interesting family remembrances, Ellen. I wish I knew more about my ancestors. My maternal side came from Ukraine and the paternal side was Irish that probably came to the US from the famine years in Ireland. Both my grandfathers died young, both were PA coal miners. My grandmothers were widows with young children and I don’t know how they were able to do all they did. I am always grateful for the life they enabled for us. I have a soft spot for struggling immigrants and refugees because of them.