Description
In October 1947 whole families in Western Ukraine were woken at night and sent east by train to special settlements, punished for one relative. This twelve-week course book reads what power took, and the letters, returns and memory that families kept.
Full description
In the early hours of 21 October 1947, families across Western Ukraine were woken by knocking at the door. By 26 October the Soviet state had sent 26,332 families, 77,791 people by its own report of 1948, east by freight train to special settlements, most of them to coal. Most were women and children, punished because one relative was in the underground or was suspected of helping it.
This book reads the orders, the night of the knock, the stations and echelons, the settlement regime, the homes and land left behind, and an exile declared “forever” in 1950. It also reads village life before: the reading rooms, co-operatives, parish, songs and crafts.
The plus side stands beside the harm without cancelling it: careful letters and parcels that held families together, the road back after 1953, children who grew up in exile and rebuilt their lives, and, since 1991, rehabilitation and the opened archives.
The book is a twelve-week course. Each week reads its story on three circles (personal, cultural, structural) and in four times: before, what the empire brought, since 1991, and the future we choose. River Street follows one fictional family, the Haiduks, from a village near Sambir to a coal settlement in the Kuzbass and home again; every event behind their story is documented with sources. We Remember keeps the names and counts, each with its source. For Every Age gives four guides: for children, for youth, for a community evening, and for teachers and leaders.
This first international English edition from DROKACADEMY (2026) serves university and college courses in social work, history, human rights, family studies, education and Ukrainian studies, as well as community groups, teachers, families and readers of Ukrainian descent. Corrections and family stories shared with consent are welcome at sasha@drokacademy.ca.
This is the first edition. Our goal is to find people with lived experience of what it describes, including Crimean Tatar and Lemko readers, survivors, their families and descendants, and their communities, and to review the book with them for accuracy. If you have lived this history, or you find something that is not accurate or something that is missing, please write to sasha@drokacademy.ca. The second edition will carry every correction, and the author is looking for co-authors who will shape it. A Ukrainian edition, ЗАХІД− і ДОРОГА+ (Zakhid− i Doroha+), is planned. We will keep working toward it and are asking people to help with translation and review: write to sasha@drokacademy.ca.
Inside
- Twelve weeks, one for each class of a course term, in four parts: CARE, POWER, the minus word and the plus word
- River Street: one fictional family and the documented history behind every week
- Every week read on three circles (personal, cultural, structural) and in four times: before, what the empire brought, since 1991, the future we choose
- Three readings a week, discussion questions, a research task and key terms
- We Remember: who the filter took, with dated, sourced counts, and where the names are kept
- For Every Age: four guides, for children, youth, a community evening, and teachers and leaders
The author takes no income from this book. Proceeds after production costs support students. The author supports student caregivers and those who stand with Ukraine.
Teaching it? Instructors can request a free review copy, and every student in a course that adopts the book receives it free. Write to sasha@drokacademy.ca.
Author line
Dr. Oleksandr Kondrashov (Sasha) is the founder of DROKACADEMY, a healing and writing space in Kamloops, British Columbia, and a social work educator who currently teaches at Thompson Rivers University. Born in Lviv, Ukraine, and in Canada since 2004, he has taught over 7,000 students across five Canadian universities. DROKACADEMY’s motto guides this series: Love. Care. Share. Lviv, his birthplace, is where Operation West began first, from 2 a.m. on 21 October 1947.
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