On my fathers’ side

My grandfather Mykola Mosiuk was a farmer. He was married to my grandmother (name unknown).
My father Wasyl Mosiuk was born on June 7th 1920 and lived in a small village called Kniazdwor, near to Kolomaya in the Ukraine. I believe he had four sisters (names unknown).
During the war, he and two other soldiers (names unknown) deserted the Russian Army, as they were against communism, and proceeded to make their way to their homeland, initially by train for a short distance and then for several months on foot. Within miles of their hometown they were captured by the German Army and taken to concentration camps. My father was later assigned to a German farm, where he worked as a farm hand for the farmer (name & region unknown) and given food and lodgings in return.

Having spent seven years in Germany he took the opportunity of coming to England. He landed in Harwich in February 1948 and lived temporarily in a rehabilitation camp (name and area unknown), before finally moving, to work in the coal mines of Staffordshire

On my mothers’ side

Whilst my mothers whereabouts are very vague, the story is quite similar. My grandfather Andreas Wolfel was a farmer and was married to my grandmother.
My mother Katharina Wolfel was born on January 11th 1916 and lived in a German speaking farming village in Romania called Hoghilag, near to the Carpathian Mountains.
She was one of seven children, three sisters Sarah, Elizabeth and Anna, and three brothers Johann, and two others (names unknown) which never returned after the war. During the war she was taken to many camps and travelled to many areas including Russia, throughout which time she had very little food and clothing and came close to starvation, whilst suffering frost bite in her toes.

When an opportunity arose after the war to come to England she took it, and found work in the cotton mills of Oldham.

The marriage

My parents, Wasyl Mosiuk and Katharina Wolfel  met, and  were  later married  in    Stoke-on-Trent, England on 24th March 1956 where they permanently settled.