Aurelie Bros published a book about the strength of women from Ukraine and their path during the war.
2022. Like hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian women, I saved my children from Russian missiles and left the country. My husband stayed in Ukraine, while I, with my children, ended up thousands of kilometers away from home, in a foreign country, without knowing the language.
Germany greeted us warmly, but it wasn’t our home. The children constantly asked why their father wasn’t there when we would return home, and why the Russians were bombing our Kyiv. I gathered my thoughts, held back tears, and spoke to the children. The long months of separation were terrifying.
Ph: Aurelie Bros
I know I wasn’t alone in this situation. On February 24, 2022, the heart of every Ukrainian woman pounded like never before, out of fear for loved ones. Yes, Ukrainian women weren’t as afraid for themselves as they were for their children, parents, and loved ones.
Thousands of women were forced to leave their homes and find refuge elsewhere. Our people are scattered around the world, far away from Russia.
When I was in Germany, the author of the project “Letters from Ukrainian Women to the Free World,” Aurelie Bros, reached out to me. Aurelie invited me to participate in her project, and I agreed immediately.
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Yana Matviychuk and her letter to the free world
When I read the letter from Aurelie Bros, I immediately felt inspired to participate in this project. Why? Because I felt a lot of unspoken, unheard, and painful emotions within me. I wanted the whole world to hear about the pain of Ukrainian women, who just yesterday were building careers, dreaming, loving, and caring for their families, and today are forced migrants, emigrants, fleeing from war. Ukrainian women’s lives have been turned upside down, and I wanted to shout about it. I wanted people to pay attention to us, not as unhappy and defeated, but as strong, resilient women.
Writing a letter for the book turned out to be harder than I thought. I collected my thoughts and hesitated to start working on it. It was painful. Painful to go back to the early days of the war, to realize the grim drag of the days, to experience separation and despair for our Ukraine. As I wrote the letter, tears kept coming back. My thoughts screamed on paper, while I silently, with gathered determination, wrote.
The letter turned out to be a psychological therapy for me. I poured out on paper the thoughts I had been trying to suppress. And when I gave them freedom, it became easier.
Yana Matviychuk, Oksana Korchynska, Jerry Heil, Taira
Many Ukrainian women, whom I deeply admire, wrote letters for Aurelie Bros’s book. Among them: Oksana Korchynska – a paramedic, social activist, and volunteer; Taira – a military servicewoman, and paramedic, who was in Mariupol and Russian captivity; Oksana Bilozerska – an officer of the Armed Forces of Ukraine; Jerry Heil – a singer and songwriter; Olha Stefanyshyna – a member of parliament; Dina Wong – a journalist, military servicewoman; Katerina Vozianova – the founder of the company Indposhiv, and many other strong Ukrainian women.
Each woman who wrote a letter for the book is unique. The strength of will and perseverance of every Ukrainian woman is boundless. Yes, all the stories of women in the book are different, but they are united by one thing – love for their homeland.
Aurelie Bros.”Letters from Ukrainian Women to the Free World” and the media
The largest financial-business newspaper in the German-speaking area, Handelsblatt, became a partner of the project. Several letters from Ukrainian women from Aurelie Bros’s book are already posted on the newspaper’s website.
The publication ZFDheute made a story about the book.
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Singer Jerry Heil wrote a song for the book called “Call me freedom.”
The book by Aurelie Bros and 38 Ukrainian women who wrote their letters found their readers. For me, “Letters from Ukrainian Women to the Free World” is a project that resonates in every woman’s heart. Ukrainian women have shown that they can do anything in times of war! We fought then, and we continue to do so now.
