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A Soviet Odyssey
Gorbachev's recent acknowledgment of Stalin's inhumane policies barely hints at the grand-scale devastation of Soviet life suffered during the first half of this century. A gripping eye-witness account of that period, this book is both a unique chronicle of one of the 20th century's most brutal regimes and the moving personal testament of a remarkable woman.
Suzanne Rosenberg's narrative begins in 1921, when she and her mother--a Sorbonne-educated Bolshevik--lived together in one room of a communal Karkav flat. In part to escape famine and in part to promote Communism, her family journeyed to Canada, where, at 15, she lectured electrical workers on the evils of capitalism. After returning to the Soviet Union in 1931, Rosenberg and her family saw countless friends and acquaintances fall victim to Stalin's increasingly repressive policies. Recalling how she began to avoid political conversations, any contacts with foreigners, and even the slightest comments on the state of the government, the author chillingly describes the wave of terror that spilled over the country. The years 1937 and '38, she writes, "struck out with enormous force, the blows rendered so suddenly that shock, bewilderment, and confusion gave way to naked, animal fear." Eventually--after enduring the hardships and deprivations of World War II--Rosenberg's husband and then Rosenberg herself were arrested. Sentenced to a labor camp, she joined the ranks of prisoners struggling to survive in the Gulag. She remained in the camp for three years, receiving amnesty only after Stalin's death.
Covering the entire period from 1921 to 1980, when Rosenberg re-emigrated to Canada permanently, A Soviet Odyssey is not only a riveting account of Stalinist terror; it captures as well the texture of Soviet life from a woman's perspective. It ranges over everything from the world of the intelligentsia to the role of women in the workplace to the particular experiences of women in the Gulag. Biography lovers, Soviet watchers, and anyone interested in the often horrifying course of modern history will find this book compelling reading.
Suzanne Rosenberg's narrative begins in 1921, when she and her mother--a Sorbonne-educated Bolshevik--lived together in one room of a communal Karkav flat. In part to escape famine and in part to promote Communism, her family journeyed to Canada, where, at 15, she lectured electrical workers on the evils of capitalism. After returning to the Soviet Union in 1931, Rosenberg and her family saw countless friends and acquaintances fall victim to Stalin's increasingly repressive policies. Recalling how she began to avoid political conversations, any contacts with foreigners, and even the slightest comments on the state of the government, the author chillingly describes the wave of terror that spilled over the country. The years 1937 and '38, she writes, "struck out with enormous force, the blows rendered so suddenly that shock, bewilderment, and confusion gave way to naked, animal fear." Eventually--after enduring the hardships and deprivations of World War II--Rosenberg's husband and then Rosenberg herself were arrested. Sentenced to a labor camp, she joined the ranks of prisoners struggling to survive in the Gulag. She remained in the camp for three years, receiving amnesty only after Stalin's death.
Covering the entire period from 1921 to 1980, when Rosenberg re-emigrated to Canada permanently, A Soviet Odyssey is not only a riveting account of Stalinist terror; it captures as well the texture of Soviet life from a woman's perspective. It ranges over everything from the world of the intelligentsia to the role of women in the workplace to the particular experiences of women in the Gulag. Biography lovers, Soviet watchers, and anyone interested in the often horrifying course of modern history will find this book compelling reading.
- GenresHistory
222 pages, Hardcover
First published August 11, 1988
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 12, 2018
How many of us know about Canadians in the Gulag? The author of this memoir, Suzanne Rosenberg, came to the Soviet Union from Montreal in her late teens. Her grandfather was a rabbi; her mother––a Communist. Suzanne’s idealist mother brought her children to Moscow in the 1930s. The family had to live through Stalin’s Terror and the war. After the war, when Stalin launched his last campaign––against foreigners and the Jews––Suzanne and her mother were arrested. They were destined to meet in a Siberian labor camp. The mother perished there; Suzanne was released upon Stalin’s death in 1953. During her Soviet Odyssey Suzanne lost her lover and her husband. Her brother, persecuted as a Jew, had committed suicide. Suzanne returned to Canada in the 1960s after her daughter married a Canadian.
Depicting her life in Stalin’s Soviet Union, she writes: “Silence was our sole refuge. We pretended that the arrested person never existed––and in this we became stout allies of the state’s repressive apparatus, acquiescing to its policies.” This is a wise book by a survivor who never lost her dignity, sense of purpose, and love of life.
Depicting her life in Stalin’s Soviet Union, she writes: “Silence was our sole refuge. We pretended that the arrested person never existed––and in this we became stout allies of the state’s repressive apparatus, acquiescing to its policies.” This is a wise book by a survivor who never lost her dignity, sense of purpose, and love of life.
August 30, 2016
This book by Suzanne Rosenberg who spent time in Russian camps a victim of the Stalinist purges is enlightening. The book presents a shocking affirmation of that terrible time from as insider's point of view, and an insider who believes strongly in the communist idea. It made a good companion for One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich and I made it available to my senior English students.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews