Hello Everyone, Many of you may remember, our list member Alexandra Tesluk Gibson. She began her research with us in February of 2002. About one and a half years after that, she went to Poland and France to meet family members. After 5 years of researching she has written her story about her search for her father and other family members. The book will be released in December 2007. A few years ago, I posted a letter from Alexandra on the Poland Border Surnames website about the beginnings of her search. It is at this site: http://maxpages.com/tpbs/Andreas_TESLUK. When I heard her story through letters to the mail list, I hoped someone who knew her father would find the website, and would let him know she was trying to find him. Tina Media Release for *The Ashes of Innocence* – A memoir written by Alexandra Tesluk Gibson with Karen Hendry FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Alexandra Tesluk tesluk@rogers.com Toronto, Canada Life Can Come from Ashes: One Woman's Triumph over Child Cruelty to Finally Find a Place of Her Own Alexandra had a story to tell and a father to honour; a father she never knew. Alexandra, a Ukrainian Canadian, was born in Hannover, Germany in 1946, at Herrenhauser Kirchweg 5 and resided at Camp #36/4 Lager Mockernstrasse (later renamed Camp Lyssenko). Her mother and father were both residents of the camp and his status denigrated as "*Arbeitera*" on her birth certificate, a euphamism for slave labor, later known as *displaced persons*. Her parents (displaced from Laskivtsi and Volyn, Ukraine) were regarded as stateless in the official temporary travel documents. With the help of Karen Hendry, she writes her memoir, *The** **Ashes of Innocence*, detailing the suffering of a child and the eventual triumph of a woman. *The Ashes of Innocence* is also the story of Alexandra's passion to find her father. After living with the knowledge that her father died when she was only 18 month old, she discovered in her late teens that he did not pass away and in fact, may very well be alive. A determined woman she knew she had to have some answers. Her desire grew with each reply received; from the German officials at the International Tracing Service in Bad Arolsen, the International Refugee Organization, The Red Cross, Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain and The British Army in England. She left no stone unturned going as far as writing "Letters to the Editor" of popular newspapers in Hannover, to the hospitals and cemeteries hoping, at least, to find his final resting place. She travelled to France, Poland, and Ukraine looking for elusive answers. It was through her contact with www.polandbordersurnames and the success stories posted on that website that gave her the encouragement to continue. In 2003, she received a letter from the City Archives in Hannover confirming a registration form for the family in that community. When Alexandra was only 2 her mother found safe harbor in Canada for her and her older half-sister; away from the war-torn horrors of Germany, leaving her father behind for reasons unknown. Raised by her mother and her new husband, Alexandra suffered terrible physical, mental, and emotional abuse at the hands of this supposed *father figure*. Feeling complete emptiness and displacement growing up, longing for her true father; Alexandra promised herself that she would search for him to reconstruct what happened.* *In her teens, she often imagined there might be another family, perhaps siblings she so desperately wished to meet and include in her life. She imagined completeness -- that she belonged somewhere.* *Her yearning for her own father grew and this love for a man she never knew was intuitive and strong. * * Alexandra says, "I struggled with the thoughts of writing the book for a long time. Should I expose my soul to the world? Did I really want to share those very deep scars that were so very personal and that were kept hidden for such a long time? I decided there is so much pain in the world today from abuse in dysfunctional families, children being bullied at school, women being taken advantage of in their workplace, women and men being abused in their marriages that I feel many would benefit from my journey." "Writing was healing and I started feeling good about my life, regardless of what had happened to that little girl who saw and experienced so much. This opened a door for me-- I no longer felt the shame associated with the stigma of a *displaced person*." * * *The Ashes of Innocence* is available for publication and I foresee it on the bookshelves for Christmas 2007. The culmination of the book is the timeless tribute to Alexandra's father, Andreas Tesluk. Unsure of her father's fate, Alexandra will return to her birthplace and plan* *a memorial. On August 4, 2007, a red maple* *tree ~~ acer rubrum ~~ (symbolic of Canada and her life there)* *will be planted in his honour, along with a plaque to be placed next to the tree,* *on the grounds of what was once Camp Lyssenko in Hannover, Germany, the last place father and daughter were together!