A Hidden World: My Nine Years in the Soviet Gulag

by Raphael Rupert

A Hidden World , first published in 1963, recounts the nine years spent by Hungarian Raphael Rupert in the prison camps of Soviet Russia - the Gulag. At the time of his arrest in 1947, Rupert was working from the British Embassy in Budapest. His trial, based on a presumed confession of acting as a spy, ended in his sentence to Camp 10 for 25 years of 'forced labor.' A Hidden World describes the daily life and endless brutalities endured in the camps...the numbing winter cold, the mindless drudgery in the factories, the harsh treatment by guards and prison gangs, the lack of food and medical care. Finally, after nine years, Rupert was released and able to emigrate to Great Britain, eventually settling in Ireland.

Genres: Russia, Nonfiction

173 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1963

Reviews

[i m antoniak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing account.

This is a series of memoirs which portrays humanity at both it's worst and best. The style of writing is sometimes a bit disjointed and continuity, as Rupert jumps from one episode to the next, is awkward.
The mix of nationalities and religious beliefs and the cooperation between them is encouraging. But man's inhumanity to its fellow man is horrifying. Most interesting to me, is Ruperts observation of the Russian psyche when Stalin has died and another era begins. How quickly the prisoners forget their demise and want to believe again in Russian supremacy and the new propaganda of a new government instead if learning from the past and making their own considered judgements.
Will anything chsmgecwhile so many are do easily led and fooled by do few?

[Carrie Marshall (Kellenberger) · Rating 2 out of 5]

A Hidden World: My Nine Years in the Soviet Gulag is the account of a Hungarian man named Raphael Rupert who spends nine years in Soviet Russia's infamous gulags. His sentence to Russia's prison camps was issued because of his work with the British Embassy in Budapest and he was presumed to be a spy.

For this, he was sentenced to 25 years of hard labour in Camp 10.

Rupert describes his day to day life in the camp along with the hard manual labour he was forced to do; the lack of medical supplies, clothing, and food; the long, endless winters and bone-chilling weather, and how he and the other inmates were treated by the prison guards and by the gangs who ran the prison.

This memoir is eye-opening and dreadful to read at times, but the writing style is also somewhat jumbled up. At times I found myself wanting to skip chapters because it seemed like the chapters were out of order or weren't really necessary to the overall telling of his story.

The awkwardness of jumping from story to story can't be ignored, but he does do a good job of getting across how horrific life was in these camps

Rupert is eventually released shortly after Stalin's death - nine years after his imprisonment - and he returns to Great Britain.

[Mr Peter W Treasaden · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book should be required reading for anyone who feels supporting Socialism and particularly the Labour Party in the UK.

Clearly the methodology of Communism can only be construed as an illness that does no good.
Hopefully lessons will be learnt.