Time Remembered, Grief Forgotten: A Personal Memoir

by Michael S. Zbailey

Time Remembered, Grief Forgotten is the remarkable account of three generations of the Belenky family as told by Kathryn Nikkel. Each generation lives through the most calamitous events of the twentieth century and each is affected differently by them.Sophia Belenky came from the upper class in pre-Revolutionary St. Petersburg, she escapes from the Bolsheviks across the frozen Don River and makes a new life in Belgrade, Yugoslavia.The second generation experiences a personal family tragedy and the turbulence leading to the war with Nazi Germany and the disastrous effects on the Russian émigrés. They witness unbelievable cruelty, death, and the worst traits of people who were fighting for survival. Finally, near the end of World War II, they are forced to flee from the Reds but end up in a Nazi slave labor camp in Austria.Kathryn Nikkel (Katya) represents the third generation of the Belenky family. She is physically abused as a child and the emotional scars stay with her into adulthood. Her ordeal as a refugee was featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

254 pages, Paperback

First published June 2, 2008

Reviews

[Gretchen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a well written account of 3 generations of Russian women who faced unbelievable hardships and tragedies. They faced unspeakable atrocities and yet triumphed. Their true stories were given to the author who set them down in a straightforward manner, putting the reader into scenes which needed no embellishments. Kathryn Nikkel chose a good author to tell her story.