The Commandant and his actions are inspired by a Kriminalpolizei officer named Willi Hermann who was personally involved in the liquidation of the Jews in the area.
Krystia’s mother’s fate is real, as is that of Dolik, Leon and Michael.
But Don’t Tell the Enemy is a novel, not non-fiction. My story is framed around these people and events.
The real-life Krystia was only eight years old in 1941, though her courageous actions were that of a mature individual. Today’s readers might have difficulty understanding that someone so young could accomplish all that Krystia did. I felt that making her older would make her actions more relatable.
Maria was only seven. Dolik and Leon were older teens. For the sake of the story I made them closer in age to Krystia so they could be classmates and friends.
Krystia also had an older sister named Iryna, who was ten, but it was Krystia who took Krasa to their pasture twice a day and sneaked food and documents into the ghetto to help the Jews.
Krystia’s actual town was Pidhaytsi, which means “under the wood.” I’ve named it Viteretz, which means “breezy,” and I’ve made the town much smaller. I populated my novel with composite secondary characters based on my research.
Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Israel, conveys gratitude to non-Jews who took great risks to save Jews during the Holocaust by naming them Righteous Among the Nations. Those honoured with this title are listed in a database and have their names engraved in a memorial at Yad Vashem.
Those caught hiding Jews in Pidhaytsi, and in other areas of Occupied Poland that are now part of Ukraine, were treated much more harshly by the Nazis than rescuers in other parts of Europe. Ukrainians risked death not only for themselves, but for their entire families. In spite of those high stakes, more than twenty-five hundred Ukrainians have been recognized as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem for their efforts in rescuing Jews during the Holocaust.
Kateryna Sikorska’s family is among them.
German and Nazi are not interchangeable: German and Volksdeutche refer to ethnicity, not political beliefs. Some Germans and Volksdeutche who opposed the Nazis became victims too. Others were executed or sent to slave labour camps by the Soviets.
Russian and Soviet are not interchangeable: Russian refers to ethnicity, while Soviet refers to a geographic area controlled by the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union contained many nationalities, including Russians, Ukrainians, Poles and Germans.
There are thousands of mass graves all over Ukraine, yet while the Soviet Union existed, the people who lived in these terrible times and witnessed what happened during both Soviet and Nazi occupations were not allowed to talk about it. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, researchers were finally able to interview eyewitnesses and begin excavating the mass graves — graves filled with victims of both the Nazi and Soviet dictatorships.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am so very grateful to have worked with Sandy Bogart Johnston on this novel. It was a tough and emotional ride for both of us but Sandy got me through it. Thank you, Krystia Korpan (nee Sikorska), for opening up your memory to that terrible time and reliving your pain with me. Iryna Korpan, thank you for patiently answering all of my seemingly inane questions over the course of several years. Professor Iroida Wynnyckyj and Dr. Lubomyr Luciuk, thank you both for your precise and varied research help. Appreciation to my late in-laws, Dr. John and Lidia Skrypuch, whose terrifying wartime experiences gave me context to understand Krystia’s complex story. A kiss to my husband, Orest, for his patience and encouragement. And a heartfelt thank you to dear departed Orysia Tracz, whose encyclopedic knowledge of all things Ukrainian is unsurpassed. Many times while in the final stages of this novel I reached for the phone to call her, only to realize yet again that my friend would not be there to answer. Vichnaya Pamyat.
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“A sensitively written page turner that teaches lessons in courage, faith, ingenuity and hard work… It is an important story.”
—The Montreal Gazette
“[A]nother compelling tale based on the slave raids Hitler conducted throughout the Soviet Union.”
—Calgary Herald
“The story is gripping and the themes powerful… an important piece of historical fiction.”
—Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction, jury citation
* Silver Birch Award Winner
* Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction Finalist
* An Ontario Library Association Best Bet
* Manitoba Young Readers’ Choice Award Finalist
* Resource Links, Best of the Year
* Best Books for Kids & Teens, Starred Selection
Nadia arrives in Canada after the end of World War II, from the Displaced Persons’ camp where she has spent the last five years. But troubling memories and dreams begin to haunt her. Who is she really? She sees images of another family, Nazi uniforms, Hitler… but can she believe what her dreams are telling her?
“[Skrypuch] takes on the Nazis’ notorious obsession with racial purity in her new novel… [She] succeeds in making some of the more horrific and lesser-known events of the Second World War accessible and engaging for younger readers.”
“Through gripping prose… Skrypuch relates a story previously untold in children’s fiction, offering an original perspective on the Ukrainian experience during the Second World War.”
* Crystal Kite Award Winner
* CLA Book of the Year for Children Finalist
* An Ontario Library Association Best Bet
* Best Books for Kids & Teens, Starred Selection
* Manitoba Young Readers’ Choice Award Honour Book
* Resource Links, Best of the Year
* Diamond Willow Award Finalist
* Golden Oak Award Nominee
* IODE Violet Downey Recommended List
Luka escapes from a brutal German slave labour camp, desperate to make his way back through the mountains to Kyiv and his father… and then to find Lida, if she is still alive.
“[Skrypuch] does a wonderful job of illuminating the moral dilemmas forced upon ordinary people during extraordinary times… [and] certainly succeeded in introducing this compelling slice of history to a new audience.”
“Underground Soldier is also a worthy choice as supplementary reading for classes studying The Diary of Anne Frank, and it is an excellent addition to school library collections.”