The Storks did not Return by Wladyslaw Malinowski and Wanda Chunnett

Book Description:

The arrival of storks had heralded spring in Wiktorowka ever since the village was founded. When they arrived in 1940, it was to a scene of total destruction, as all the villagers had been loaded onto cattle trucks and displaced hundreds of kilometres to the icy gulags of Siberia, never to return to their homes in north-western Ukraine.

From one camp in Siberia, a twelve year old boy started an epic journey across Europe, Asia and Africa, defying almost impossible odds to survive as one of five hundred orphans ultimately shipped to South Africa to start a new life.

For seventy five years, wars, the imposition of the Iron Curtain, the international isolation of the South African apartheid regime and hostilities in the Middle East made it impossible for him to return to his village. He grew too old to travel. But in 2013 his daughter retraced much of his journey and discovered both physical harshness and incredible human compassion as she travelled. This is their dual story.

About the Author:

This book is a collaboration between Wanda Chunnett and her father, Wladyslaw Malinowski. Wanda is a passionate African, with roots in Eastern Europe. She has a successful career in infrastructure planning and development, based in Cape Town, which has helped to fund her love of adventurous exploration and travels across the world, along with her husband, son and daughter. The research, planning and time that was spent on this, particular, adventure, has made it one of the highlights of her life.