Odessa, Ukraine is my birthplace, and has always been part of who I am and where I come from. These current events are heartbreaking. My parents survived the Second World War, the holocaust and lived through Soviet Oppression, and I am forever grateful for the sacrifices they made when they left the former USSR to give my brother and me all the opportunities we never would have had under that regime. I have to pinch myself when I think of the life I had growing up in New Zealand, and the life I have here in The US. Despite all our differences here, events like this put everything into perspective. 💙💛🇺🇦 Slide 1- my mum, Irina front center of pic with rabbit during the Nazi /Axis Powers Siege of Odessa WWII Slide 2- Mum bottom left Slide 3- Mum dad me and @mikhailgherman Slide 4- Mum and @mikhailgherman Slide 5- @mikhailgherman and parents Slide 6- @mikhailgherman Slide 7 -Arkady Gherman aka Dad Slide 8 - @mikhailgherman Slide 9- Grandad Liev Katz Slide 10- Dad, Mikhail, Mum