PDF The Forsaken: An American Tragedy in Stalin's Russia by Tim Tzouliadis in History

Review

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful. Learning From HistoryBy C. E. ColeAs one who spent over 40 years studying and using the Russian language in military and defense areas; I really appreciate this book. My old Russian teachers who taught me the language over 50 years ago told me all about the Soviet Union whence their parents had escaped. After military service and then acquiring my undergraduate degree in Russian; I spent 6 months on a USIA (the old United States Information Agency) cultural exchange exhibit traveling around the USSR; after which I returned to the military institute where I had originally studied Russian and spent 30 years teaching the language to our military intelligence personnel. This book reveals the tragedy of the generation who; out of desperation during the Great Depression; grabbed what they thought was a safety line and traveled to what was being promoted as a "workers' paradise" in the 1930s; only to be swept up in the Great Purge and the Stalin Terror and be worked to death in the Soviet GULAG. It holds a valuable lesson for today's youth; many of whom are anxious to believe the siren song of socialism and accept it as the solution to all of society's problems. As the Russians say; "measure the cloth nine times before making the first cut." I only hope that young people can be encouraged to read this book and learn from history before they; too; might be caught up in the net and perish as did the generation described in the book.3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. no one fits the description of a sociopath better than Joseph StalinBy Michael PappieAlthough there are many runners up; no one fits the description of a sociopath better than Joseph Stalin. The mind begins to reel when trying to comprehend the sheer magnitude of the numbers of people that were brutally and sadistically murdered by Stalin’s regime. Some of the first of those to be seized by this paranoid regime were dozens and dozens of expatriated Americans. “One is taken one is left”—and the one that was “taken” was thrown into the back of a van; brutally beaten; tortured; and ended up with a bullet to the back of the head; to be shoved into a mass grave along with dozens of others who had met the same ignominious fate. And if you were lucky enough (and I do mean lucky) to escape this fate; many of your friends; family; or neighbors weren’t so lucky. The number of priests alone who were killed by the Stalin’s Regime was a staggering 200;000.One of the main questions that emerges is was our State Department aware of what was going on? And the answer is an unequivocal yes. At the time the American Embassy was rife with those who sided with-and secretly supported--the aims; goals; methodology and ideology of the Soviet regime. Ever ready to sing paeans of praise to Stalin this cadre of communist sympathizers found a very comfortable and safe place within the American Diplomatic Corps in Moscow during the 1930’s.Perhaps; no one is more guilty of displaying a complete contempt and disregard for the sufferings of these poor expatriated Americans than the morally bankrupt US ambassador to the Soviet Union Joseph Davies. Proud; affectatious; obsessed with image; Davies chose to look the other way as these expatriated Americans were being systematically murdered. Always ready to throw lavish parties on his yacht for the Soviet elite--replete with the most expensive champagne and caviar—Davies never missed an opportunity to extoll the virtues of Stalin.Next to Joseph Davies; no one did more to help foster and create a glowing image of Stalin than the American newspaper journalist Will Duranty; a name that now stands preeminent in the Journalists Hall of Shame. Just like Davies; Duranty knew full well what was taking place in Soviet Russia and; just like Davies; chose to look the other way. Neither man had the courage or the resolve to bring these atrocities to light. Both were guilty of sending back idyllic reports and communiques to Roosevelt and to the American press. Which explains (at least in part) why Roosevelt was particularly soft on Soviet Russia; at least in the beginning.Surely the men and woman who had to suffer and endure these tragic and horrific ordeals must have felt Forsaken; but thanks to Tim Tzouliadis’ book they will not forgotten.3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. DisturbingBy pftWell; a most disturbing book. Obviously; nothing all that much new in terms of the atrocities committed by Stalins regime; since these are well known nowadays. However; it is revealing in describing how reporters and news agencies lied and covered up what was actually happening and caused many thousands of Americans to run into Stalins trap. The recognition of the Soviet Union by FDR as Stalin was killing millions of his own people by starvation; which was also covered up by the press; was explained as being in part to provide needed services to Americans living and working in the Soviet Union. The embassy and state department then did absolutely nothing for them; and continued to cover up what was going on.It all supports those who claimed at the time there was a conspiracy of support for the Communists by both the press and the state department; and on Wall Street. However; it seemed that anyone who called out the Communists and suggested a conspiracy were smeared with labels like anti-semitism or later were called right wing fruit cakes. The Venona files released in the 90's supported some of the allegations from the 50's.Meanwhile; in this period; Naziism was rightly exposed for what it was; although no effort was made to stop export of technology; materials and financing for Hitler. You would think with a depression the President would want to have these corporations and banks support America with their capital instead of encouraging them to build up the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany; both of which were evil.Yet FDR did nothing with regard to Germany and worse; refused to help Jews fleeing persecution; and actively supported the Soviets with financing from the Export-Import Bank after recognition by the US; refusing to help captive Americans. Maybe we should rethink his legacy.I am knocking off 1 star because there was no mention of the American International Corporation (AIC) whose members almost certainly had a big role in Stalins 5 year plans . I have always been curious as to how such an important company represented by many of the leading firms on Wall Street and Industry going back to 1915; and very active in many of the hot spots of the times is almost entirely ignored in our history. Almost to the extent one would never know it existed. FDR's connections with Wall Street; working in the same building as AIC corporate office; is also conveniently ignored