Born in Peremyshl (Przemysl) east of the Sian river, on the fault line drawn in the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact of 1939 between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, Magda Ostapiuk Kolcio was taken away from her native surroundings by her parents as they fled West to escape the advancing Red Army. The Ostapiuk family made a slow but deliberate progress first towards the American Zone in Germany and then to the United States. The story of their flight is a tale of conviction and luck. The capricious laws and leadership that governed Ukraine after World War II taught her to be true to her roots and the opportunities she found in the United States taught her to count her blessings and lend a helping hand to organizations that fought the brutal Soviet interpretation of History and of Human Rights.