To all my friends - VERY IMPORTANT.

[Hannia]

Please take a minute and read thru this article. Take the time and give the British govt a piece of your mind. Pawlo Korol is an old man, who needs to go home. Red tape should be cut and paperwork expedited immediately. Please, I need your help with this!!!
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To see this story with its related links on the Guardian Unlimited Observer site, go to http://www.observer.co.uk

Family ripped apart by Nazis face last hurdle: British red tape
Paul Harris
Saturday August 31 2002
The Guardian


It has been 61 years since Pawlo Korol, 76, last saw his sister Maria. He remembers her as a sweet little toddler. But the picture of her that he now treasures shows a wrinkled old woman in a headscarf.

His eyes moisten when he is asked what he will say to her when they meet. 'I will have lots to say,' he says. 'But if I tell you now I will cry.'

Korol was separated from his family by the German invasion of the Soviet Union. He was taken by the Nazis as forced labour. When the Second World War ended, the Cold War ensured he would never see his family again. Korol came to Britain, settled in Nottinghamshire and married a local woman. He thought his family was dead.

But, amazingly, Korol has discovered that his sister is alive and living in the village of their birth. Understandably, he is desperate to see her. Yet there is a cruel hurdle standing in the way: British bureaucracy. The Home Office has discovered that Korol never officially applied for British citizenship. He has been using a temporary travel document on trips abroad - one that does not allow him to visit Ukraine. Officials have told him that the only way to get a British passport, despite living and working here since 1947, is to apply to become a naturalised citizen, a process that could take a year. Then he would have to apply for a passport separately.

Now Korol is angry. He is elderly and suffers from asthma. His family are worried about the stress he is under. 'I am 76 years old,' he said. 'Anything could happen in a year. I might not be here by then.'

It is a tragic delay on a remarkable story of survival. The Korol family grew up in the village of Lozy in Ukraine, near the border with Poland. They ran a farm, working with horses and growing enough crops to survive. Korol remembers playing in the fields and swimming in the lake. 'It was a beautiful place. Even after all these years it is clear in my mind. If I were to go there now, I would still know it,' he said.

But that ended with the 1941 German invasion of Ukraine, which was then part of the Soviet Union. The Germans rounded up all the men to be shipped off as forced labour. Among those chosen was Korol's father.

'I made an instant decision. I told my old man that I would go in his place,' Korol said. Then aged 15, he did not even have time to say goodbye. The army train that would ship him and dozens of other slave labourers to German armament factories was waiting to go.

For four years he lived in a camp near Hamburg, working for no wages in an engineering factory. There were camps for Jewish workers nearby and Korol witnessed the appalling conditions that killed many of them.

When the war ended Korol became part of a tide of refugees sweeping across Europe. Unwilling to go back to Stalin's Soviet Union, he ended up in Britain in 1947 after two years in Italy. He wrote to his family, but did not receive a reply.

However, a few months ago Korol's son-in-law, Norman Watkins, decided to trace Korol's relatives. He found a website that specialised in finding people in Ukraine and was put in touch with a Ukrainian who helped foreigners to track down their families.

The man went to Lozy and traced Maria. Writing through her own son-in-law, Maria sent her long-lost brother a letter and a handful of photos. Korol said: 'I just couldn't believe it. Now I cannot sleep. A letter from my sister and she is alive! I nearly collapsed.'

But there was tragic news as well. Korol's parents, Bartko and Lukia, are both dead, buried in Lozy. His elder brother, Petro, was shot dead by the Germans during the war. Korol says he is not bitter at the news, but wants to know why his brother was killed. 'I think perhaps he joined a group against the Germans. But it is just a guess. I want to know why he was killed. He was my brother,' he said. Now both sides of the family want to reunite the brother and sister. But Maria's family is poor. She cannot afford to travel to Britain.

Korol is desperate to travel to Ukraine before the winter arrives. He fears his ill health will prevent him from going during the colder months. And next summer could be too late.

Only British red tape stands in the way. 'We cannot comment on individual cases,' said a spokesman for the Home Office.

But Korol is determined to win this last battle. 'How would you feel if you didn't see your sister for 60 years, then you find her, and then no one helps you to see her?

'But I will see her. I know I will. It is in my blood,' he said.

Copyright Guardian Newspapers Limited
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E-mail these officials w/your opinions!!!!

public.enquiries@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk .......Jack Staw, Home Secretary

verlek@parliament.uk .......Simon Hughes MP/Shadow Home Secretary

jchr@parliament.uk ........House of Lords, Human Rights Joint Committee

Conservative Party - Contact Iain
http://www.conservatives.com/iaindun...th/contact.cfm

general UK govt
public.enquiries@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk

[smf2002]

Dear Hannia,

You can count on my support, and I will ask all my friends to help. I always appreciate your help and this is an important cause. Susan Farb

[Donna]

Hannia,

I will certainly e-mail the Brits on this one.

Do you think if you contact a television network like 20/20 or Nightline that maybe they could carry the story and get popular support?

Donna

[Hannia]

Attn from BBC would really rattle some chains, but we are working on all other avenues as well.

[vnc]

Hania,

Letter written! Maybe emailing The Observor (Paul Harris) might be an avenue? Keep us posted.

Vera

[chatsol]

Well, I was WONDERING just what I was going to do with my Sunday. You have a perfect project for me. Be assured that I will not only be sending my own thoughts on this horrid example of government run amuck, but have several friends in the UK, whom I am certain will be more than happy to lend their support.

Unthinkable in this day and age, that the government of ANY supposedly "free" country could lose sight of the indivduals who comprise the contributors to their society!

[Hannia]

this is nottingham - news, entertainment, jobs, homes and cars
http://ad.uk.doubleclick.net/adi/www...7962877693888?

PS>The great news is that not only is the local MP on the case but also the MP for Derby (the next county close to Nottinghamshire) has also taken up the fight on Pawlo's behalf.