My Sister's Mother

A Memoir of War, Exile, and Stalin’s Siberia

Donna Solecka Urbikas (Autor)

Buch | Softcover

312 Seiten

2019
University of Wisconsin Press (Verlag)
978-0-299-30854-4 (ISBN)

Artikel merken

In the 1950s, baby boomer Donna Solecka Urbikas grew up in the American Midwest yearning for a “normal” American family. But her Polish-born mother and half sister had endured hunger, disease, and desperate escape from slave labour in Siberia. In this unforgettable memoir, Donna recounts her family history and her own survivor's story.

In the 1950s, baby boomer Donna Solecka Urbikas grew up in the American Midwest yearning for a ""normal"" American family. But during World War II, her Polish-born mother and half sister had endured hunger, disease, and desperate escape from slave labor in Siberia. War and exile created a profound bond between mother and older daughter, one that Donna would struggle to find with either of them. In this unforgettable memoir, Donna recounts her family history and her own survivor's story, finally understanding the damaged mother who had saved her sister.

Donna Solecka Urbikas was born in Coventry, England, and immigrated with her parents and sister to Chicago in 1952. She lives in Chicago.

Preface
Map
Introduction
Part 1. The Generation between the Wars
The Haunting Past
Uneasy Peace
The Interview
Hiding
Lost Lives Regained
Birth into War
Polish School
The First World War
Mothers
Walenty and Natalia
Operation Marriage
Cradling Death
The Farm
Uncertainty
Train Travel
Part 2. Russia and Siberia
The Lieutenant
The Impact
The Arrest
Family Secrets
Soviet Labor Camp
Majorettes and Identity
Prison without Bars
The Longing
Undeserved Beauty
Homeland
Fleeting Summer Breezes and Conspiracies
Terms of Endearment
The Human Commodity Market
A Less Than Normal Childhood
Part 3. Choices and Destiny
Amnesty
The Fittest Survive
Religion
The Guardian
A Man of Honor
Under Naked Skies
Not Me
Death in Small Doses
Like No Other
Numbing Existence
War and Mental Illness
From Here to Hell
Part 4. Bittersweet Lessons
I, as Savior?
India
The World at War
England
The Land of White Rice and Cinnamon
Forever the Farm
Reconciliation
King Takes Rook
Epilogue
On Being a Mother
Notes
References
Index

Erscheinungsdatum	02.03.2019
Zusatzinfo	14 black & white photographs, 1 map
Verlagsort	Wisconsin
Sprache	englisch
Maße	152 x 229 mm
Gewicht	365 g
Themenwelt	Literatur ► Biografien / Erfahrungsberichte
	Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Allgemeines / Lexika
	Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte
	Sozialwissenschaften ► Politik / Verwaltung
ISBN-10	0-299-30854-5 / 0299308545
ISBN-13	978-0-299-30854-4 / 9780299308544
Zustand	Neuware