FROM THE BOOK:"The pit I was ordered to dig had the precise dimensions of a casket. The NKVD officer carefully designed it. He measured my size with a stick; made lines on the forest floor; and told me to dig. He wanted to make sure I'd fit well inside."In 1941 Janusz Bardach's death sentence was commuted to ten years' hard labor and he was sent to Kolyma—the harshest; coldest; and most deadly prison in Joseph Stalin's labor camp system—the Siberia of Siberias. The only English-language memoir since the fall of communism to chronicle the atrocities committed during the Stalinist regime; Bardach's gripping testimony explores the darkest corners of the human condition at the same time that it documents the tyranny of Stalin's reign; equal only to that of Hitler. With breathtaking immediacy; a riveting eye for detail; and a humanity that permeates the events and landscapes he describes; Bardach recounts the extraordinary story of this nearly inconceivable world.The story begins with the Nazi occupation when Bardach; a young Polish Jew inspired by Soviet Communism; crosses the border of Poland to join the ranks of the Red Army. His ideals are quickly shattered when he is arrested; court-martialed; and sentenced to death. How Bardach survives an endless barrage of brutality—from a near-fatal beating to the harsh conditions and slow starvation of the gulag existence—is a testament to human endurance under the most oppressive circumstances. Besides being of great historical significance; Bardach's narrative is a celebration of life and a vital affirmation of what it means to be human.
#2007564 in Books 1998-03-02Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 1.67 x 6.41 x 9.34l; #File Name: 0520206509294 pages
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy MJExcellent book for the research I'm doing.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. An important study in the grant of rights to women and their recognition as holders of rightsBy AndyAn vital book; the publication of Bredbenner's Ph.D. thesis. It's of a kind with Lucy E. Salyer's "Laws Harsh As Tigers: Chinese Immigrants and the Shaping of Modern Immigration Law" in explaining historical discrimination in nationality law and its more recent; partial; correction through (in the case at hand) the Cable Act of 1922 reversing the Supreme Court's holding in Techt v. Hughes. What remains to the present day is discrimination as to the right of certain unmarried women to transmit nationality abroad: http://www.afsa.org/PublicationsResources/ForeignServiceJournal/FeaturedContent/April2015SpeakingOut.aspx ("Citizenship and Unwed Border Moms: The Misfortune of Geography"; Foreign Service Journal; April 2005)1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Comprehensive Thoroughly Researched Book on a Narrow TopicBy J. PittiPrior to picking up this book; I had very little knowledge of the struggle for equal nationality rights for women in America. From the mid 1850's until the 1920's; married women had citizenship nationality rights that were completely derivative of their husband's. And prior to 1934; American women could lose their citizenship for marrying foreign husbands. Bredbenner's book presents a comprehensive look at the impact of the derivative nationality doctrine on American-born and immigrant women; and the political struggles of the women's nationality rights movement. While it does not provide much context in terms of the broader feminist women's suffrage movement; readers with a serious interest in history; law or feminism will appreciate the depth of Bredbenner's examination of this specific topic.
