by Michelle Ruby, Brantford Expositor.
The release of the third book in a Second World War trilogy by city author Marsha Skrypuch couldn’t be more timely.
The young readers’ novel, Underground Soldier, tells the story of the terrorization, enslavement and killing of Ukrainians by both the Soviets and the Nazis.
The underground army formed by Ukrainians included people of many nationalities and ages with one thing in common — the desire to live in a democratic country.
“This parallels the Euromaidan conflict where regular people of all ages and nationalities took to the streets and proclaimed they would rather die than take the corruption anymore,” said Skrypuch. “It just goes to show how timely history can be.”
Underground Soldier is the story of 14-year-old Luka, who works as an Ostarbeiter in Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe, alongside Lida from Making Bombs for Hitler, the second book in the trilogy, which began with Stolen Child.
Desperate to escape the brutal conditions of a Nazi slave camp, Luka manages to break free by hiding in a truck under a pile of dead bodies and joins a group of Ukrainian resistance fighters.
Caught between advancing Nazis in the west and Soviet troops in the east, they mount guerrilla raids, help POW escapees and do all they can to make life hard for the Nazis and Soviets. After the war, Luka must decide whether to follow Lida to Canada or stay in Europe and search for his long-lost mother.
“They were 10 years in the making,” said Skrypuch of the trilogy. “Finishing it feels like a relief but there is also a sadness. The characters were in my head for so long.”
Underground Soldier is the prolific, award-winning city author’s 18th published book.
Skrypuch will be in Toronto on Wednesday as one of five nominees for the $25,000 Kobzar Literary Award for Making Bombs for Hitler. The award recognizes outstanding contributions to Canadian literary arts by an author who develops a Ukrainian Canadian theme with literary merit in one of several genres, including literary non-fiction, fiction, poetry, young readers’ literature, plays, screenplays and musicals.
Although Skrypuch said she has written more on Ukraine than anyone else in Canada, this is her first nomination for the biennial Kobzar.
Most of Skrypuch’s works are fiction but she bases all of her stories on detailed research. Of great help on Underground Soldier, she said, was Peter J. Potichnyj, professor emeritus at McMaster University who was a teen soldier in the Ukrainian Insurgent Army and has written extensively about it.
Skrypuch said she is closely following the ongoing demonstrations and revolution in Ukraine.
“I’m so proud of the people. It’s a very civil revolution. All they want is freedom. It’s a wave of democracy. In the long run, it’s the most beautiful thing that could possibly have happened to Ukraine.”
In the meantime, acclaim for Skrypuch’s books continues. The non-fiction One Step at a Time, which is based on Brantford resident Tuyet Yurczyszyn, is shortlisted for the Silver Birch award with winners to be announced in May.
She also has a new young adult novel scheduled for release in August to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War. Dance of the Banished is partly set in Brantford.
michelle.ruby@sunmedia.ca
