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
Poignant and empowering. ... Refreshingly honest ... about the effects that war has on its survivors and inevitably their children."" - Polish American Journal ""Set against the background of Polish history, Urbikas recounts her mother and sister's plight of deportation, liberation, and journey through Central Asia to England and finally the United States. ... An ambitious and dense narrative."" - Polish American Historical Review, ""Superbly records the bitter suffering both of victims of the Soviet Gulag and of displaced emigrants. In this context, Donna's teenage 'tragedy' of failing to make the cheerleading squad is particularly poignant."" - Marek Jan Chodakiewicz, author of Between Nazis and Soviets ""A primer for all who seek to understand the harrowing journey of Poles during this fateful period."" - Allen Paul, author of Katyn: Stalin's Massacre and the Triumph of Truth ""An unprecedented saga of a loving mother and her two daughters raised years and oceans apart: the older one in Soviet slavery during World War II, the younger in freedom and safety in the United States. The demons that possessed the mother in slavery- fighting like a tigress to protect her child- never left her in freedom, emotionally harming her younger daughter. A unique perspective on the tragic deportation of Poles to Siberia."" - Wesley Adamczyk, author of When God Looked the Other Way
