Adolph Cushman was born in 1868 in a small town near Kyiv, Ukraine.
He married Ida Elgart in an arranged marriage in 1888, when she was 15 years old. Adolph migrated to Montreal, Canada in 1892 to escape conscription into the Russian army. He did not stay in Canada very long and entered the United States via railroad the same year. He eventually settled in Boston, Mass.
Ida followed two years later with their two Russian-born children.
One of those children, Morris, was my maternal grandfather.
Charles Kaplan and Alice Skoff were also from Ukraine. They migrated through Ellis Island to New York City. Papa Charlie was a tailor and Alice was a push-cart peddler in a tenement area of lower Manhattan. They moved to Boston in the early 1900’s.
My father – George Washington Kaplan – was born on Feb. 22, 1914. His parents were clearly very proud of their new country.
My family history requires total support of the Ukrainian people. It tears me up to see the refugees and the destruction of civilian property. One of my bucket list projects was to complete the family genealogy and travel to Kyiv to meet with any relatives whose families might have survived the Holocaust. That trip probably will not happen.
I have my ancestors’ naturalization (granting citizenship) papers. Adolph’s citizenship was granted on May 25, 1911 before the Russian Revolution. He renounced allegiance to Czar Nicholas II Emperor of Russia. Morris’s citizenship was granted on Jan. 19, 1920.
Both documents required the new citizens to “renounce absolutely and forever all allegiance to any foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty particularly to Russia or any independent state within the former Russian Empire.”
Fast forward more than 100 years and we see a new form of Russian government sponsored persecution. This time the “bread basket of the former Soviet Union” is being systematically destroyed because it has the audacity to want to maintain their democratic form of government. The Ukrainian government sought protection from Russia by attempting to enter NATO, which was formed as a foil to Russian aggression.
The Ukrainians are a hearty people. So are the Russians.
But there is one main difference: the Ukrainians have experienced democracy ever since the fall of the USSR in 1991. They are willing to fight to the death to maintain their democracy. The Russians have lived in a dictatorial Communist state since their revolution in 1917. They have no experience with a true democracy.
We will see how long the Russian people will support their leadership in a war only Putin wants.
As the world’s leading democracy, we must support the Ukrainians. That means sacrifices on our part. Gasoline will cost more. Inflation will continue till world markets stabilize. Petty political differences must be put aside. The free world is unified in imposing severe sanctions on Putin and his oligarchs. Our leadership must remain unified behind the Ukrainians.
If their democracy falls, which one is next?
Roger Carlton writes a bi-weekly column for The Graham Star. He can be reached via email, rcarlton57@hotmail.com.