A POLISH GIRL IN SIBERIA
This book shares an account of the forced exile of Poles to prison camps in Siberia during the Second World War. The story narrates the struggle to survive amid cold and starvation, with eventual repatriation. However, this came at the price of being forced to become a member of the Communist Party. An afterword chronicles the survivor’s life in the decades following the ordeal, including a career in medicine. It doesn’t shy from the long-term effects of displacement and family separation. The book raises awareness of Soviet victimization of Poles, which had lasting effects on the multiethnic and multicultural dynamic of Poland. It reminds readers of the similarities between the Soviet treatment of Poles and the current treatment of Ukrainians by Russia.
- This remembrance shares a riveting account of a lesser-known aspect of the Second World War—the forced exile of Poles and others under the control of the Soviet Union to prison camps in Siberia by train.
- The story is harrowing in its narration of her struggle to survive amid cold and starvation
- It raises awareness of an underexplored part of WWII suffering, showing the extent of Soviet victimization of Poles, which had lasting effects on the multiethnic and multicultural dynamic of Poland.
Source: Kirkus Reviews |
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