‘MY GRANDPARENTS FOUND LOVE AFTER SURVIVING THE NAZIS’
The Nazis extended their reign of terror in 1941 when they invaded Ukraine. The following year, SS troops stormed the village of Knyazhyky, near Kiev, and rounded up a teenage child from each household. They were taken away, and many never returned.
One of these terrified prisoners was Maria Melnik, who at the time was only 17 years old. She was the grandmother of keen family historian Danielle Ford. She has found shocking parallels in the wartime experiences of her Polish grandfather Marian Pohl, who married Maria in 1957.
Maria was torn away from her family with no time to say goodbye
“As a young child, I knew my grandparents as Babcia and Dziadek, the Polish names for grandmother and grandfather,” says Danielle, who lives in Gloucester. “I remember Dziadek playing the accordion and singing Polish songs to us. Babcia cooked delicious food, especially apple cake, dumplings and a sweet, marbled bread called babka .
