8 February 2023 - TATYANA MARKUS MEMORIAL - UKRAINE

 

TATYANA MARKUS

 MEMORIAL

 - UKRAINE -

G'day folks,

Welcome to a tribute to a Ukrainian heroine who went undercover and killed several Nazi operatives. 

Tatyana Yossifovna Markus was born in Ukraine in 1921 and lived only for 22 years, but within that short span of time, she became a formidable underground agent the Nazis feared.

In 1941, when the Germans entered the city of Kyiv, a young Markus was there to greet them, congratulatory flowers in hand. Instead of graciously handing them over to the triumphant soldiers, she threw them, and the grenades hidden underneath them, at the approaching contingent, killing four soldiers. Her father threw a second grenade, to prevent them from retaliating. 

In the tumultuous times of war, father and daughter had become members of the Kyiv underground, resisting Nazi rule. But her father was caught and killed shortly after the grenade incident.

Markus got further entrenched into the movement and took on the alias of Tatyana or Tatiana Markusidze, the daughter of a Georgian prince who had been killed by the Bolsheviks.

With this tragic (fake) backstory, she purported to hate the Soviet Union and joined the Germans. A young beautiful operative, she won the confidence of several German officials and gathered information that helped the Ukrainian rebels kill them. She even worked in a German officers’ mess and often lured soldiers into isolated areas and killed them herself.

 

With a number of Nazi soldiers dead, the Gestapo launched an operation to identify and catch her. As she was escaping, in August 1942, she was caught and interrogated brutally for more than five months, which intensified when her Jewish identity was discovered. But despite the torture, she refused to provide them with any information about her comrades. She was then killed in January 1943 and, according to some accounts, her body was thrown into the notorious Babi Yar ravine, where thousands were massacred by the Germans.

A few years later, in 1946, a Communist Party district report dealing with the period of occupation included her and spoke about the “brave Komsomol girl who knew no fear, Tanya Marcus, who was known as Markusidze. An active member in the sabotage movement, she personally killed dozens of soldiers, officers, and collaborators. She carried out very responsible operations on behalf of the organization by preparing sabotage operations, etc.”

After the fall of the Soviet Union, a statue of this courageous young woman who gave her life in the fight against the Nazis was unveiled in Babi Yar in 2009, just a few years after she was honored as a “Heroine of Ukraine.”

Let's hope this statue is still standing!

26 August 2019 - Znesinnia Park Rail Tracks in L'Viv, Ukraine

Znesinnia Park Rail Tracks

 in L'Viv, Ukraine

G'day folks,

The largest park in Lviv is surrounded by a network of disused rail tracks. 

 

 

The tracks weave their way around Znesinnia Regional Landscape Park and run for more than two miles. Following them provides panoramic views of the green hills surrounding Lviv, as well as an unusual look at ordinary people’s homes and abandoned industrial buildings. All you need is a pair of good walking shoes and a willingness to plow through high grass at some places.

 

 

The abandoned train tracks of Lviv are actually visible on Google Maps. They show as a thin grey line weaving around Park Znesinnya. A good starting point is the overpass on Polova Street, which is a 45 minute walk from the city center (or a 20 minute bus ride on bus number 20 towards Severyna Nalyvaika St) . From the overpass on Polova street the abandoned tracks go east, actually running parallel to tracks that are still in use for a few hundred meters (no worries, they’re still at a safe distance). 

 

You can reach the abandoned tracks from various points, just look at Google Maps where the tracks run near a road. If you decide to walk the whole length of the tracks (and starting on Polova Street) you will end up right next to Lyckakivska Street, a couple of miles east of Rynok Square. 

 

 

There are bus stops at regular intervals along this street so getting back to the city center is a piece of cake.

 

Clancy's comment: Wow. Yet again I've found something that has fallen by the wayside. Sad, eh?

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23 August 2019 - A COLLECTION OF LOST TOYS IN THE UKRAINE

A COLLECTION OF LOST 

TOYS IN THE UKRAINE

G'day folks,

Here is an interesting tale about a Ukraine alleyway that has become its own little island of forgotten things. 

  

This typical urban courtyard in one of Lviv’s oldest neighborhoods has become a makeshift museum, and home to an unlikely exhibition of toys that were tragically forgotten and left behind. The collection began when a resident of one of the surrounding apartment blocks at 1 Mukachivska St found two lost toys nearby, and placed them under a small roof in the shared courtyard, in case the owner returned to collect them. 

The owner never did come back, and an unlikely shrine to lost things was born. Ever since, the little corner has attracted all manner of junk and former plaything, creating a melancholy little space that is nonetheless fascinating for its bittersweet looks.   

In the years since, the collection has grown as residents of the apartment blocks surrounding the yard have given a temporary home to hundreds of plush animals, dolls, musical instruments, figurines, and bicycles. One of the things that makes this amazing little found museum all the more stunning is the fact that all of the found items are arranged like they  are part of some little shrine. Rather than being carelessly tossed into a pile in the corner, the various toys and tchotchkes are placed on rickety shelves and pieces of furniture. 

 The collection at the yard is constantly changing, as new toys are added to the collection, and existing ones are collected by their owner, or find their way to a new home. 

Clancy's comment: I know a few kids who would spend hours playing here. Did you notice that this area has a sandpit?

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19 August 2019 - THE TUNNEL OF LOVE - UKRAINE

THE TUNNEL OF LOVE 

- UKRAINE -

G'day folks,

This beautiful natural train tunnel is said to grant the wishes of visiting lovebirds. 

 

 

 Just outside the city of Klevan in Ukraine, a nearly two-mile stretch of private railway has turned the surrounding trees into an enchanting natural tunnel.

 

A train transporting wood to the nearby fiberboard factory runs three times daily. Otherwise, the railway tracks through the tree tunnel make for a lovely stroll for couples and singles alike. The romantic setting earned this stretch of track its nickname, the “Tunnel of Love.” It’s also called the Green Mile Tunnel, for the bright leafy branches that arch over the railway.

The tunnel is at its lushest during the spring and summer when the trees are at the peak of their leafiness, but the colorful foliage of fall and snow-covered branches of winter make for captivating sights as well.

Local legend has it that couples who visit the tunnel will be granted a wish, provided their intentions are sincere.

Clancy's comment: Enchanting, eh? Certainly worth a photograph.

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10 November 2014 - CHERNOBYL

CHERNOBYL

G'day folks,

Today I feature some background information on a disaster.

At 1:23 a.m. on April 26th, 1986, reactor four at the nuclear power plant near Chernobyl, Ukraine exploded, releasing more than a hundred times the radiation of the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Thirty-one people died shortly after the explosion and thousands more are expected to die from the long-term effects of radiation. The Chernobyl nuclear disaster dramatically changed the world's opinion about using nuclear reaction for power.

The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant

The Chernobyl nuclear power plant was built in the wooded marshlands of northern Ukraine, approximately 80 miles north of Kiev. Its first reactor went online in 1977, the second in 1978, third in 1981, and fourth in 1983; two more were planned for construction. A small town, Pripyat, was also built near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant to house the workers and their families.

Routine Maintenance and a Test on Reactor Four

On April 25, 1986, reactor four was going to be shut down for some routine maintenance. During the shutdown, technicians were also going to run a test. The test was to determine whether, in case of a power outage, the turbines could produce enough energy to keep the cooling system running until the backup generators came online. 

The shutdown and test began at 1 a.m. on April 25th. To get accurate results from the test, the operators turned off several of the safety systems, which turned out to be a disastrous decision. In the middle of the test, the shutdown had to be delayed nine hours because of a high demand for power in Kiev. The shutdown and test continued again at 11:10 p.m. on the night of April 25th. 

A Major Problem

Just after 1 a.m. on April 26th, 1986, the reactor's power dropped suddenly, causing a potentially dangerous situation. The operators tried to compensate for the low power but the reactor went out of control. If the safety systems had remained on, they would have fixed the problem; however, they were not. The reactor exploded at 1:23 a.m.

The World Discovers the Meltdown

The world discovered the accident two days later, on April 28th, when operators of the Swedish Forsmark nuclear power plant in Stockholm registered unusually high radiation levels near their plant. When other plants around Europe began to register similar high radiation readings, they contacted the Soviet Union to find out what had happened. The Soviets denied any knowledge about a nuclear disaster until 9 p.m. on April 28th, when they announced to the world that one of the reactors had been "damaged." 

Attempts to Clean Up

While trying to keep the nuclear disaster a secret, the Soviets were also trying to clean it up. At first they poured water on the many fires, then they tried to put them out with sand and lead and then nitrogen. It took nearly two weeks to put the fires out. Citizens in the nearby towns were told to stay indoors. Pripyat was evacuated on April 27th, the day after the disaster had begun; the town of Chernobyl wasn't evacuated until May 2, six days after the explosion. 

Physical clean-up of the area continued. Contaminated topsoil was placed into sealed barrels and radiated water contained. Soviet engineers also encased the remains of the fourth reactor in a large, concrete sarcophagus to prevent additional radiation leakage. The sarcophagus, constructed quickly and in dangerous conditions, had already begun to crumble by 1997. An international consortium has begun plans to create a containment unit that will be placed over the current sarcophagus. It is expected to be completed in 2013. 

Death Toll from the Chernobyl Disaster

It is estimated that the radiation from the Chernobyl disaster was 100 times more powerful than the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki . Thirty-one people died shortly after the explosion; however, thousands of others who were exposed to high levels of radiation will suffer serious health effects, including cancers, cataracts, and cardiovascular disease.

Clancy's comment: Mm ... Nature creates some great disasters, but humans sure do a good job of stuffing things up.

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Think about this!