Mississauga man who survived the Holodomor celebrates 107th birthday

A Mississauga man who survived the Holodomor, a man-made famine in Soviet Ukraine that killed millions of Ukrainians from 1932 to 1933, celebrated his 107th birthday Tuesday and reflected on his journey to reach Canada.

Iwan Winniczuk lives at the Ivan Franko Seniors’ Residence in Mississauga and said it’s his resilience and survival instincts that allowed him to reach centenarian status.

He grew up in Ukraine and endured the Holodomor. Scholars at the University of Alberta who study the famine describe it as a form of political violence by the then-Soviet Union that targeted marginalized populations.

Dozens of people came to the seniors’ residence to celebrate Winniczuk. He strolled into the room using a walker and clapped alongside his family when he was presented with a large slab cake.

At the age of 15, Winniczuk faced displacement as he and his family were deported to Siberia. He was later drafted into the Russian army in 1941. He said that’s when his mother told him something he never forgot.

“His mother makes it perfectly clear: if you leave here, you go in one direction and never come back. Look for freedom and peace,” said Tom Terentiew, Winniczuk’s son-in-law.

Following that advice, Winniczuk ended up in Germany, serving as an army mechanic.

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“He’s told me so many stories of how he evaded getting captured…but he had an agenda. His agenda was, ‘I’ll do everything I can to keep going west. I will never return,’” he said.

Winniczuk met his wife in Germany. They were married in 1951 and that same year, they arrived in Canada. The pair settled in London, Ont., and welcomed their daughter a few years later.

But Winniczuk never forgot his Ukrainian roots. “He helped build the church, the Ukrainian Centre; he helped build the Ukrainian Centre, he helped build the Ukrainian Resort Club, said Terentiew.

Now at 107, Winniczuk has aimed to share his Ukrainian heritage with his two grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

“Being able to communicate in that language with him and having that special bond over the culture and everything is really special,” said Natalya Viznyak, his great-granddaughter.

He’s also remained independent over the years along with living a long life. Luca Terentiew, Winniczuk’s great-grandson, said the advice is always to stay healthy and keep active. “He always, even now, he walks a lot,” said Luca.

Staying away from drinking and smoking, along with staying close with family, is likely what has held him through the years, said Tom Terentiew.