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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
An extract from Anna Wiciak-Suchnicka's autobiography Drewniane motyle [Wooden Butterflies] (1987), describing the author's deportation by Soviet soldiers, along with her two young daughters and elderly parents, from her home village in what was then eastern Poland (now Belarus) to Soviet-controlled Kazakhstan. The extract evokes the misery of the lives of the stranded Polish exiles and indigenous Kazakhs alike in the poverty-stricken Kazakh village of Mironówka, near Żana-Żol. The NKVD (Soviet police) provide the exiles with no work or food or shelter; they struggle to survive in the 'Siberian' winter, and many die, including the author's father.
Notes
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English translation of the title: Wooden Butterflies (An Excerpt)
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The autobiographical text refers to the author in the third person, as 'Ania' (a Polish diminutive of 'Anna').
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Last amended 7 Jun 2018 16:26:42
Subjects:
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cRussia,ccFormer Soviet Union,cEastern Europe, Europe,
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cKazakhstan,cCentral Asia, Asia,
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cPoland,cEastern Europe, Europe,
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cBelarus,ccFormer Soviet Union,cEastern Europe, Europe,
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cUzbekistan,cCentral Asia, Asia,
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