Gammalsvenskby in Ukraine was built in 1782 by Swedish farmers from Hiiumaa. They were later joined by colonialists from Danzig and some Swedish prisoners of war; despite the mass deaths of the first years, the village survived. The inhabitants faced hardships – sickness, famine, banditry and invading armies. Later, they had to experience the Crimean War, the First World War, the Russian Revolution and Civil War, the Second World War, the Russian Occupation of Crimea in 2014 and not least, ever since 2022, pure acts of war, directly targeting the village.

When the Swedes of Gammalsvenskby (Svenskbybor) moved to Sweden in 1929, they hoped to be able to stay together. But this never happened; they were deployed and put to work as farmhands or agricultural contract labourers, paid in kind – many felt let down and fell for the communist propaganda. 250 Svenskbybor returned between 1929–31. It turned out to be a caseof ‘out of the frying pan into the fire’ and they had to experience Holodomor (famine), Stalin’s great purge, Nazi abuse and forced labour camps. Yet up to our days, many have preserved their Swedish language, their history and their hopes for a better future in Ukraine. May it come soon!