My sister's mother : a memoir of war, exile, and Stalin's Siberia

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. An American Baby Boomer's Searing Memoir Of The Ordeals Of Her Polish Mother And Stepsister As Slave Laborers In Siberia Who Escaped And Survived, Leaving A Legacy Of Trauma To The Next Generation. 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 -- Russia And Siberia. The Lieutenant ; The Impact ; The Arrest ; Family Secrets ; Soviet Labor Camp ; Majorettes And Identity ; Prison With Bars ; The Longing ; Undeserved Beauty ; Homeland ; Fleeting Summer Breezes And Conspiracies ; Terms Of Endearment ; The Human Commodity Market ; A Less Than Normal Childhood -- 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 -- 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 -- On Being A Mother. Donna Solecka Urbikas. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 293-295) And Index. Donna Solecka Urbikas grew up in the Midwest during the golden years of the American century. But her Polish-born mother and half sister had endured dehumanizing conditions during World War II, as slave laborers 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 1940, Janina larzynska and her five-year-old daughter Mira were taken by Soviet secret police (NKVD) from their small family farm in eastern Poland and sent to Siberia with hundreds of thousands of others. So began their odyssey of hunger, disease, cunning survival, desperate escape across a continent, and new love amidst terrible circumstances. But in the 1950s, baby boomer Donna yearns for a normal American family while Janina and Mira are haunted by the past. In this unforgettable memoir, Donna recounts her family history and her own survivors story, finally understanding the damaged mother who had saved her sister. Finalist,Best Traditional Non-Fiction Book,Chicago Writers Association