Ksenia Luchkowska, who was born to Ukrainian parents, finds encouragement in the world’s support
“There’s support from this country and all over the world. I’m amazed by how many people care,” said Ksenia Luchkowska, who was born to ethnic Ukranians and proudly displays a Ukrainian flag outside her Santa Barbara home.
Horror and fear.
Those are the emotions Ksenia Luchkowska first felt when she heard Russia launched a devastating attack on Ukraine in late February.
The Santa Barbara resident was born in 1944 in a displaced persons camp in what is now Jaslo, Poland (then, a German occupation zone) to ethnic Ukrainian parents. Her father was an officer in the Polish army, and her family fled after Germany invaded and the Soviets began to move in.
Eventually, Ms. Luchkowska and her family relocated to Belgium for a few years before settling in Lorain, Ohio, in a Ukrainian community. And in 1978, she came to Santa Barbara with her late husband, hotelier Eric Friden, and set down roots.
But Ms. Luchkowska never forgot about her upbringing and family still in Ukraine.
When Ukraine became an independent country in 1991, Ms. Luchkowska made the trek overseas, volunteering to teach English. She spent time in Yalta on the Crimean Peninsula, the capital city of Kyiv and Lviv, a western city popular among tourists near Poland.
Ksenia Luchkowska, then 8, leads the pledge of allegiance for Ukrainian children in a summer camp in 1952 in Belgium.
There in Lviv, Ms. Luchkowska met her older cousin who said, “I hope you get on your knees and thank your parents for getting you out.”
It was a dire message Ms. Luchkowska still remembers some 20 years later as she watches news of the Russian invasion — which the White House has dubbed “Putin’s War of Choice” — play out in the media.
“I know that President Putin of Russia has been saying for quite a while there’s no such thing as Ukraine, we should all be one big happy family,” Ms. Luchkowska told the News-Press. “Some brother he is. He attacks Ukraine with such horrible means. It’s horrendous. It’s just awful. It’s unthinkable.”
Ksenia Luchkowska, second from the left, visits her family in 2017 in Lviv, Ukraine. She was there with her sons Chris Friden of Camden, Maine, front left, and Philip Friden of Santa Barbara, sitting third from the left.
Ms. Luchkowska and others with Ukrainian ties in the Santa Barbara community are encouraged by the world’s attention and support for Ukraine — especially by those in the Central Coast region.
Santa Barbara has held rallies in support of the Ukrainian people, and Goleta-based nonprofit Direct Relief has sent medical aid to Ukraine since the invasion. Santa Barbara-based ShelterBox USA is sending a team to Eastern Europe to look at Ukraine’s needs.
“There’s support from this country and all over the world. I’m amazed by how many people care,” Ms. Luchkowska said.
“Ukraine is a democracy, and they believe in freedom and peace. They don’t want to fight anybody, kill anybody,” she added. “They want to be friendly with Western Europe, with Russia, with the United States. I don’t have anything against the Russian people, but their president (Vladimir Putin) is a madman.”
And like many others, Ms. Luchkowska is concerned for the growing number of refugees, particularly the women and children, who are being displaced. The European Union has estimated up to 4 million Ukrainian people could attempt to flee their country.
Reciting the mantra by those opposed to the Vietnam War — “war is not healthy for children and other living things” — Ms. Luchkowska said, “It’s true for everywhere. War is the worst possible way to resolve conflict, and I’m just sick that Putin decided to go that route.”
Four years ago, Ms. Luchkowska was able to travel again to Ukraine with her two sons to visit family. That older cousin who had urged Ms. Luchkowska to be grateful for growing up in the U.S. had since passed away, but they visited and dined with other family members who shared their culture.
Ms. Luchkowska, now 78 (“a real babushka,” she said, laughing), has remained in contact with her cousins, mainly through Facebook and email, checking in with them as the conflict escalates. She said she last spoke to her cousins through Facebook on Monday.
“They are OK for now but very worried, of course,” Ms. Luchkowska said.
As for her late cousin’s message, Ms. Luchkowska said she is thankful, both to her parents for making the sacrifice to move across the globe and to the U.S. for accepting her family and allowing them to continue to speak Ukrainian and practice their customs — something she said would not have been allowed in the Soviet Union.
Her first name, Ksenia, is derived from the Greek word “xenia,” meaning “hospitality.” Ms. Luchkowska said it seemed “a good name for an innkeeper’s wife.”
But now, as she watches the conflict continue to unfold, her name is taking on even greater meaning as she’s ready to help the Ukrainian people however she can.
email: kschallhorn@newspress.com
