Following World War II, thousands of people, uprooted from their homes, reached Canada where they were commonly referred to as DPs, short for “Displaced Persons.”
Maria Blagoveshchensky was one of them, a 20-year-old native of Pskov, a city 200 miles west of St. Petersburg, Russia, where her mother and grandmother were killed, 1944, when Russian planes dropped bombs during the recapture of their territory lost to Germany in 1941. Following World War II, thousands of people, uprooted from their homes, reached Canada where they were commonly referred to as DPs, short for “Displaced Persons.”
Maria Blagoveshchensky was one of them, a 20-year-old native of Pskov, a city 200 miles west of St. Petersburg, Russia, where her mother and grandmother were killed, 1944, when Russian planes dropped bombs during the recapture of their territory lost to Germany in 1941.
A high school graduate in her native city, on her Canadian arrival, January 1948, she spent a year working as a nurse’s aid, Brockville Ontario Hospital, before electing to move to Toronto to study bookkeeping and accounting.
Over the next 40 years, Maria was employed as a bookkeeper by two companies, Yolles Furniture and Nubar Graphics.
Active in Toronto’s Russian community for years, she has been Chair, Russian Canadian Cultural Aid Society, since 1982, Treasurer, Russian Orthodox Holy Trinity Church and Vice-Principal of its Church School for the past 25 years, and a member of the Russian Orthodox Immigration Services of Canada.
Her dedication to helping people, young and old, was recognized, 1995, when a surprise party, attended by more than 500 people, saluted and honored Maria, above right, for her many years of dedication to Ontario’s Russian community.