Welcome to Litsy!

My favorite read from #June #6thbookof2021, and another of my absolute favorites this year.
#12Booksof2021

This book is a most read and I‘m just sad that it has been standing on my selves for 10 yrs.

Figes focuses on how Stalin‘s politics and paranoia affected the people. To be labeled a Cossack or an “Enemy of the State” didn‘t just send you away to Gulag for 10-25 yrs, it also destroyed your family. Your spouse would be sentenced too, for not having turned you in, your children would be sent to orphanages, if they were young enough they were given

This is a picture of a collective apartment. After Moscow introduced a densification policy, the apartment ended up housing 14 people.

The collective apartments should be a reflection of the Soviet society by destroying the private room and property. The private life should be subject to surveillance and control.

Neighbors were paying close attention to the other residents and would pay attention to guests and be a “witness” towards neighbors

The 1st metro line opened in 1935. It was the stated that when the worker takes the metro, he shall see himself in a castle. The metros were built like castles with chandeliers, stained glass panels and marble.

Mayakovsky could measure up to the beauty of a church.

The metros were in stark contrast with the living conditions, but it should strengthen the belief in the Soviet goal and values.

#foodandlit #Russia

Aleksandr and Serafima Ozemblovskij had 4 children, 2 boys and 2 girls. Aleksandr gave everything to the kolkhoze except one cow. He was arrested in 1930. A couple of days later they came for the rest of the family. They were sent 3000 km to a colony in the Komi region in the north. They decided to escape, since the youngest boy was sick they decided that Serafima should escape with the girls. They went back to Belarus to Serafima‘s parents. (⬇️)

#inlaws #reviews #others

History is important, very important. If we don‘t know about it, we can‘t learn from it. Read this absolutely terrifying account of everyday life in Stalinist Russia, and if you had any nagging doubts about the value of democracy and a free press, they will be erased forever. While far from perfect, democracy is still better than all the alternatives.