Dancing Under the Red Star (43 page)

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Authors: Karl Tobien

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Riga
—The capital of Latvia
Spiekeroog
—A small, remote island in the North Sea
SS
Statendam
—International ocean liner of the Holland-American Line
Telefunken
—German audio communications and telephone enterprise
troika
—Beginning in 1937, in lieu of traditional courts, a set of three judges who sentenced prisoners during periods of mass arrests
Volga-Deutsche
—Now called Volga Germans; a Russian contingent of tight-knit Germans living near the Volga River and the Black Sea who maintained the German culture, language, religion, and traditions
Volga River
—Approximately twenty-three hundred miles long, it is Europe’s (and Russia’s) longest river.
Volkspolizei
—Soviet-controlled East German border police; translated “People’s Police”; also known as VOPOs
Vorobyo’vka
—Gorky’s jail for political prisoners
Vorkuta
—Coal-mining town and labor camp in northeastern Siberia, just north of the Arctic Circle
vrag naroda
—Russian term meaning “enemy of the state”
War Prisoner Exchange Agreement
—Reached in 1957 between West German chancellor Konrad Adenauer and Nikita Khrushchev, provisionally allowing for the repatriation of former German and Russian POWs
West Berlin Refugee Organization
—A former agency of the United Nations
Yalta Conference
—Also known as the Crimea Conference, held in February 1945; detailed agreements reached between Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin with respect to, among other issues, world reorganization, the liberation of Europe, and the dismemberment of Germany
Yezhovshchina—
“The Yezhov Affair,” describing the time from 1937 to mid-1938 when widespread repression and purges were at their worst in Russia; named for Nikolai Yezhov, Stalin’s assistant
Young Pioneers
—A national Soviet youth organization designed to prepare the country’s youth for future political roles
Zehlendorf
—East German city and suburb of Berlin that was the site of a German refugee camp after World War II
Zoo Station
—Or Zoo Bahnhof, the train station on the border of West Berlin

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

KARL TOBIEN was born in 1956 just outside a Soviet slave-labor camp in Siberia. He arrived in America in 1961 with his mother and grandmother. Today Karl is a management consultant, speaker, and author. He resides in Cincinnati, Ohio, with his wife, Tina, and their four children.

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WATERBOOK
PRESS

DANCING UNDER THE RED STAR
PUBLISHED BY WATERBROOK PRESS
12265 Oracle Boulevard, Suite 200
Colorado Springs, Colorado 80921
A division of Random House, Inc.

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Pages 42, 129: “Before the Deluge.” Words and music by Jackson Browne © 1974, 1975 Swallow Turn Music (renewed). All rights administered by Wixen Music Publishing, Inc. Used by permission of the publisher and Alfred Publishing Co., Inc. All rights reserved. Pages 329-30: “Don’t You Want to Be There.” Words and music by Jackson Browne © 2002 Swallow Turn Music. All rights administered by Wixen Music Publishing, Inc. Used by permission of the publisher and Alfred Publishing Co., Inc. All rights reserved.

Details in some anecdotes and stories have been changed to protect the identities of the persons involved.

Copyright © 2006 by Karl Tobien Map by Devin Boyle

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

WATERBROOK and its deer design logo are registered trademarks of WaterBrook Press, a division of Random House, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Tobien, Karl 1956-

Dancing under the red star: the extraordinary story of Margaret Werner, the only American woman to survive Stalin’s gulag / Karl Tobien.— 1st ed.
p. cm.

1. Werner, Margaret. 2. Americans—Soviet Union—Biography. 3. Women prisoners—Soviet Union—Biography. 4. Political prisoners—Soviet Union—Biography. 5. Political persecution— Soviet Union. I. Title.

DK34.A45W478 2006

947 ′.004130092—dc22

   2005036179

eISBN: 978-0-307-55063-7

v3.0

Table of Contents

The Gulag

Prologue

The Pain of Seventeen
Papa Decided
Desperate Eyes
Gorky Beginnings
Consequences
Life Without Papa
War: Enemies and Allies
Potatoes and Prayers
Nikolai’s Dance
Arrested
Betrayed
Prisoner
Sentenced
Burepolom
The Far North
The Cultural Brigade
Actresses
Siberia: Despair and Hope
Good-Bye Joe
Not Quite Freedom
Released
Appeal to Nikita
The Escape
Günter
Coming Home

Epilogue

Time Line

Historical Notes

Challenge to the Reader

Acknowledgments

Glossary

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