Survival Russian

This first-hand witness account – originally written by Ludmila Miklashevskaya in 1976 and here translated into English by historian Elaine MacKinnon for the first time – tells the important story of one woman's persecution under Stalin. From Miklashevskaya's middle-class Jewish childhood in Odessa, to her life in exile as the wife of 'an enemy of the people' and false imprisonment in a labour camp for the attempted murder of NKVD leader Nikolai Yezhov, to her later attempts at rehabilitation, her memoir is a fascinating tapestry of Soviet artistic, intellectual, and political life set against the tumultuous backdrop of revolutions, wars, and repressive regimes. Accompanied by a translator's introduction and detailed historical explanatory notes, Gender and Survival in Soviet Russia sheds new light on the relationship between power, gender, and society in 20th-century Russia. This book is thus a vital primary resource for scholars of modern Russian history and gender studies, offering a compelling and personal route into understanding how the machinations of Soviet Russia destroyed everyday life, tearing families apart and leaving scars that never healed.

The sole surviving family member, the daughter Agafia, lives by herself in the Lykov family cabin to this day.

Politieke en economische ontwikkelingen in de Sovjet-Unie en de gevolgen hiervan voor de politiek van de Verenigde Staten.

Drawing on Soviet archives, especially the letters of complaint with which peasants deluged the Soviet authorities in the 1930s, this work analyzes peasants' strategies of resistance and survival in the new world of the collectivized village

The goal of this book is to help people understand Russia better and to have a better experience while they are here. We wanted to write something that would help people fall in love with Russia, as much as we have, by sharing our experiences and funny stories about our life as an expat in St. Petersburg (Maya Krivchenia) and travel professional organizer (Alexander Rodionov). Russia is an exciting, interesting, and dynamic country, but sometimes the differences that people come across are extremely frustrating and confusing. Our goal is to explain some of Russia's unique qualities so that our friends, clients, tourist, and all others can appreciate this amazing country. Hopefully this will help answer some of the many questions you already have about Russia while planning your trip. By traveling to Russia you will certainly have a unique experience and hopefully by reading this you will get to experience Russia to the fullest!

An Engaging Account of life in today's turbulent Russia, this book faithfully presents the richly contradictory views of Muscovites and rural Russians on their work, their families and communities, their government, and their daily lives. Lois Fisher skillfully interweaves anecdote, conversation, and observation to round out the picture of a society in turmoil. Not surprisingly, much of the discussion focuses on the currently most pressing social issues–the economy and economic policy, education, crime, and social welfare. Other highlights include profiles of Kuzbass miners and their families and of former Red Army soldiers waiting in Germany for demobilization. Written by a veteran foreign correspondent in a lively style, this book will have special appeal for students and general readers. The original edition, published in autumn 1991 by Hoffmann und Campe Verlag as Überleben in Ruβland, ranked for many weeks as a top nonfiction best-seller. This English edition includes additions and updates on the lives of many of the individuals first encountered in the original edition.

This updated version of the Penguin Russian Course introduces the learner, through translation extracts, to the culture and life of the modern (post Glasnost) Soviet Union that was, as well as to the Russian language.

At a time when the Soviet Union is disintegrating, Richard Debo provides an intriguing and detailed examination of the new political realities that slowly and painfully emerged in eastern Europe out of the chaos left in the wake of the First World War. Revealing the reasons for the victory of Lenin's Bolshevik government in the Russian civil war, Debo demonstrates that Bolshevik political and diplomatic skills were far superior to those of either their indigenous opponents or their many foreign enemies. For much of 1919, enemies of the Soviet government were more interested in fighting each other than the Bolsheviks, and, although foreign powers sought to influence competing anti-Bolshevik generals, they actually contributed little to the defeat of the Red Army. Meanwhile, the Bolsheviks established realistic priorities, formulated flexible policies, and made political sacrifices unimagined by their enemies. As a result they were able to find allies and divide opponents.

The Yamal Peninsula in northwestern Siberia is one of the few remaining places on earth where a nomadic people retain a traditional culture. Here in the tundra, the Nenets—one of the few indigenous minorities of the Russian North—follow a lifestyle shaped by the seasonal migrations of the reindeer they herd. For decades under Soviet rule, they weathered harsh policies designed to subjugate them. How the Nenets successfully resisted indoctrination from a powerful totalitarian state and how today they face new challenges to the survival of their culture—these are the subjects of this compelling and lavishly illustrated book.The authors—one the head of a team of Russian ethnographers who have spent many seasons on the peninsula, the other an American attorney specializing in issues affecting the Arctic—introduce the rich culture of the Nenets. They recount how Soviet authorities attempted to restructure the native economy, by organizing herders into collectives and redistributing reindeer and pasture lands, as well as to eradicate the native belief system, by killing shamans and destroying sacred sites. Over the past century, the Nenets have also witnessed the piecemeal destruction of their fragile environment and the forced settlement of part of their population. To understand how this society has survived against all odds, the authors consider the unique strengths of the culture and the characteristics of the outside forces confronting it.Today, the Yamal is known for a new reason: it is the site of one of the world's largest natural gas deposits. The authors discuss the dangers Russian and Western developers present to the Nenets people and recommend policies for land use which will help to preserve this remarkable culture.For information on the documentaries about life—both human and animal—above the Arctic Circle that Andrei V. Golovnev and Gail Osherenko have made, visit www.filmsfromthenorth.com.