This article was published more than 5 years ago Tatjana (Tina) Daschko.courtesy of the family Tatjana Pastoshchuk’s happy childhood – born the third-youngest of eight brothers and sisters – was shattered by the Soviets and then the Nazis farm collectivization led to the death of her father forcing her to leave school after Grade 4 to help support the family She carried that dark night with her for her entire life Her mother would die in her arms shortly before the Nazis invaded Ukraine Tatjana was sent to Germany in a cattle car as an Ostarbeiter (slave labourer) who translated their foreman’s instructions Tatjana’s German co-worker asked through gestures Her first day and she is dancing.” Before long they were married in a bombed-out cathedral in Hanover where he had immigrated almost a year earlier Within 12 months of her arrival in Hamilton Tatjana and Jurij worked hard: Jurij in a foundry and Tatjana she would clean houses and did back-breaking work in greenhouses always to more comfortable homes with bigger gardens The horrors Tatjana experienced early in life left their mark on her memory but not on her outlook during a family outing to the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton Tatjana spoke up: “It’s a good thing you did; Hitler had to be stopped!” Tatjana was certainly pragmatic but she also cherished beautiful things The colours and patterns in her precise embroidery – either for traditional Ukrainian folk shirts or pillowcases for family and friends – created a beauty both delicate and powerful a passenger took offence and demanded that our family “speak white.” Tatjana decided discretion was the better tactic at that moment We learned to speak Ukrainian and traditional folk dancing we joined Ukrainian scouts and took Saturday cultural classes we learned how to prepare Easter baskets and the 12 meatless courses for Christmas Eve dinner she signed up her oldest two for accordion lessons accordions were decidedly not cool; the lessons stopped within a year no day started nor ended without a heartfelt Over 65 years in their “golden Canada,” Tatjana and Jurij passed on a devotion to family she would speak at Holodomor memorial services in honour of her little brother and the millions who were murdered Walter Daschko and Alexander Daschko are Tatjana’s sons To submit a Lives Lived: lives@globeandmail.com Lives Lived celebrates the everyday, extraordinary, unheralded lives of Canadians who have recently passed. To learn how to share the story of a family member or friend, go online to tgam.ca/livesguide Report an editorial error Report a technical issue Editorial code of conduct Welcome to The Globe and Mail’s comment community. This is a space where subscribers can engage with each other and Globe staff. Non-subscribers can read and sort comments but will not be able to engage with them in any way. Click here to subscribe If you would like to write a letter to the editor, please forward it to letters@globeandmail.com. Readers can also interact with The Globe on Facebook and Twitter Welcome to The Globe and Mail’s comment community This is a space where subscribers can engage with each other and Globe staff We aim to create a safe and valuable space for discussion and debate If you do not see your comment posted immediately it is being reviewed by the moderation team and may appear shortly We aim to have all comments reviewed in a timely manner Comments that violate our community guidelines will not be posted UPDATED: Read our community guidelines here We have closed comments on this story for legal reasons or for abuse. For more information on our commenting policies and how our community-based moderation works, please read our Community Guidelines and our Terms and Conditions