Better to Die a Wolf than to Live the Life of a Dog: A Story of Resistance and Hope

Russian Solzhenitsyn’s words motivated me to record observations encountered over a quarter century of visiting Ukraine, a country of my ancestors, which had emerged from the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Ukraine began an unchangeable shift towards the Western world. Ukraine has its own history, distinct from Russia’s, and one that is more in step with Europe than with Russia. I present a brief history of ancient Ukraine, its recorded early history, when Kyiv had a population of 100,000 with masonry fortified walls and gold-gilded towers, at a time when Paris had 25,000 living within a wooden stockade. After these few hundred years, resource-rich Ukraine was invaded and occupied by foreigners. The 2nd and 3rd chapters describe our efforts to learn about and connect for the first time with the Moisey family. My wife Doreen and I landed in Odessa in 1994, escaping a lion’s den of mafia, failing to enter Moldavia and then chauffeured by Kim Philby’s (the British double-spy agent) personal bodyguard to the Cheremosh River. This began a process of reuniting distant strands of the Moisey family from two continents. Many discussions were held with tough-minded 80 and 90-year-old relatives. We entered a variety of ventures, ranging from a private school, to philanthropy, and drilling for oil. Records, legends, documented invasions and interviews show this mountainous region was difficult for its residents. We met many Ukrainians, ranging from the homeless to hard-working families, to educators, to business movers and shakers, to mafia and local government officials. I was like a fly on the wall observing these folks, while discovering an amazing country. We experienced tensions between the old communist guard and pro-western youth. I now understand how close-knit elderly Moisey siblings could be commies, fascists or nationalists, and yet dearly love each other. All these siblings suffered at the hands of brutal invaders. My third cousin is a heroine, from my ancestral village, who was instrumental in removing the last Russian czar from Ukraine. Her exploits were published in newspapers. She was acknowledged in Ukraine as a patriot for her actions at Mount Makivka. But mostly, this book reveals ordinary, close-knit families living in Ukraine, with their different philosophical views, religions and status. Chapter five discusses the Russian myth, perpetuated by tyrant Vladimir Putin, who has fostered a surrogate war in Ukraine. In 2014, twenty-one-year old Wasyli Moisey was the fifth person killed among the “heavenly hundred” by a Putin trained sniper at Maidan’s peaceful demonstration. Putin immediately annexed Crimea and occupied regions of Eastern Ukraine, daily killing Ukrainians. As Wasyli lay dying he uttered, “Better to Die a Wolf than to Live the Life of a Dog”, a phrase well understood in Ukraine. How modern Ukraine strives for its freedom in spite of Putin is the theme of chapter six. In 2017 Ukrainians travel to Europe without visas and have almost shed the yoke of the Russian federation. Ukraine has finally escaped the clutches of the Russian bear. Putin’s attempts to revive days of old have stalled. Ukraine’s social media has countered Putin’s lies with truths, even kindergarteners defy him. Solzhenitsyn, I am sure, would feel vindicated knowing today’s Ukrainians have thwarted tyrant Putin’s propagation of the “Moscow Myth.” The glue binding Ukraine is its millennium of culture, vast diaspora support and quest for freedom. Russia is trying to control Ukraine, but will never succeed, as most Ukrainians are patriots, who know it is “Better to Die a Wolf than to Live the Life of a Dog.” The seventh and final chapter describes our love affair with Ukraine. Our contribution is like many of the 20,000,000 global Ukrainian Diaspora. We join you to shine for Ukraine. Book profits are forwarded to the “Doreen and Zenith Moisey Rotary Endowment for Economic and Community Development in Ukraine".