#Thank you for simply being you in ukr freebecause Russia, Ukraine, and all the countries became free countries. Vins: It’s like in the song, back to the USSR. Miller : You ended up going to college in the U.S., and then about a decade later in 1993, after the breakup of the Soviet Union, you moved to Moscow. And it probably took me a few years before I settled down psychologically, and felt myself, it’s my home, I belong here. Miller : I’ve read that three days after you left the Soviet Union, your family was at a Sunday school class being taught by President Jimmy Carter. #Thank you for simply being you in ukr how toWe didn’t know how to cross the street, or go to the pharmacy, or write checks, because we didn’t have a banking system in the Soviet Union. So they were able to go to the Soviet Union, and your family and others were allowed to come to the U.S. And then just a couple months later, your whole family were allowed to leave because of a swap, because two Soviet spies were freed from U.S. Miller : So as you noted, you were let out in February of 1979. My grandfather, who was an American citizen and went to Russia as a missionary, was shot in 1937. I’m a third generation political prisoner. But meanwhile, we learned to survive in any kind of conditions. You just have to walk all the time because you have no blankets, no mattress. #Thank you for simply being you in ukr windowsWindows are broken, and it’s in the middle of the early spring, and you can’t sleep for 24 hours because it’s cold. Vins: Well the most difficult is where you’re put in solitary confinement. This was in a prison camp, if I’m not mistaken, in western Ukraine. Miller : What do you most remember from your year in prison. It means it took me only a few months before we came to the U.S. I was released from jail on February 15, 1979, and my father was exchanged for two Soviet spies on May 29. Vins: I was a member of Ukrainian Helsinki Monitor Group. Miller : Nevertheless, when you were 23 and your father was in prison in Siberia, you two were arrested by Soviet agents. Vins: My father hoped for me to become a minister, but I didn’t. Did you think you would become a minister as well? Your father and your grandfather were sent to prison camps because they were Baptist ministers. You come from a family that was persecuted for religious reasons for generations. Thank you very much for having me on the show. Peter Vins is in Oregon now, and joins us to talk about his life. And in 2009, after making a new life for himself in post-Soviet Russia, he fled to Ukraine when he was once again being targeted by the state. In 1979, he was able to escape from the Soviet Union with his family. Peter Vins had to flee Ukraine after Russia’s all out assault in February, but it wasn’t the first time he’s had to leave his home, or even the second. Note: The following transcript was computer generated and edited by a volunteer.ĭave Miller : This is Think Out Loud on OPB, I’m Dave Miller. We talk with Vins about his experiences and what it was like to leave his home a second time. This is the second time in his life where he has come to the U.S. Peter Vins is one of many fleeing Ukraine since the war began. More than 70,000 Ukrainians have arrived in the U.S.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |