What do you think?
Rate this book
The Drau River Flows to Siberia: The Victims of Victory
February 4–11, 1945. Yalta, a resort town on the Crimean Peninsula, Soviet Union. The Big Three are posing for a camera. Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin. All smiling. Stalin, his head is half a turn away from the other two. A shrewd smirk is hiding behind his walrus mustache. He seems to be pleased. Why wouldn’t he be? The Big Three signed the agreement that will shape the fate of Europe and . . .
In 1941, Anna is sixteen, almost an adult yet still a child, craving independence and keen to become an operetta actress. Her rosy aspirations are disrupted by the war. When Krasnodar is taken by the Wehrmacht, she is one of the populace who are ordered to repair roads for the occupants’ trucks and cars and, in fall, to toil in the fields for the sake of sending the harvest to the enemy’s land. A dire event coerces her to go to Germany where she is auctioned as a slave worker.
Born in Berlin into an émigré Cossack family, young Zakhary is more interested in books and archeology than in the war that is raging through Europe, even less in the cause of his parents and their friends, which is to overthrow the Bolshevik regime in the Soviet Union and revert to Imperial Russia. He just doesn’t want to be a part of it. That is, until he finds himself among the Cossacks fighting alongside the Germans against the Allies.
In Italy, he meets Marishka, a young woman of Cossack heritage who fled the Soviet Union with other anti-Soviet Cossacks and departing German troops under the push of the Red Army. They fall in love and marry. And then, on June 1, 1945, Lienz happened.
After the war, a ghastly fate propels each of them to the merciless land where skies are leaden gray, frosts plunge below -60°C in winter, and the woods are impenetrable and so vast, there is no escape from there.
Anna and Zakhary carry with them their personal wounds, at the same time haunted by unbearable guilt, which they can’t undo or fix. In 1955, fate brings them together on an isolated peninsula of the Ob River, connected to one another in inextricably entangled ways they do not yet realize. More than a decade later, can they bury the cruel past and build a future for themselves in the country without Stalin but sealed behind the Iron Curtain?
This is their story, relived in one day.
In 1941, Anna is sixteen, almost an adult yet still a child, craving independence and keen to become an operetta actress. Her rosy aspirations are disrupted by the war. When Krasnodar is taken by the Wehrmacht, she is one of the populace who are ordered to repair roads for the occupants’ trucks and cars and, in fall, to toil in the fields for the sake of sending the harvest to the enemy’s land. A dire event coerces her to go to Germany where she is auctioned as a slave worker.
Born in Berlin into an émigré Cossack family, young Zakhary is more interested in books and archeology than in the war that is raging through Europe, even less in the cause of his parents and their friends, which is to overthrow the Bolshevik regime in the Soviet Union and revert to Imperial Russia. He just doesn’t want to be a part of it. That is, until he finds himself among the Cossacks fighting alongside the Germans against the Allies.
In Italy, he meets Marishka, a young woman of Cossack heritage who fled the Soviet Union with other anti-Soviet Cossacks and departing German troops under the push of the Red Army. They fall in love and marry. And then, on June 1, 1945, Lienz happened.
After the war, a ghastly fate propels each of them to the merciless land where skies are leaden gray, frosts plunge below -60°C in winter, and the woods are impenetrable and so vast, there is no escape from there.
Anna and Zakhary carry with them their personal wounds, at the same time haunted by unbearable guilt, which they can’t undo or fix. In 1955, fate brings them together on an isolated peninsula of the Ob River, connected to one another in inextricably entangled ways they do not yet realize. More than a decade later, can they bury the cruel past and build a future for themselves in the country without Stalin but sealed behind the Iron Curtain?
This is their story, relived in one day.
- GenresHistorical Fiction
390 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 25, 2023
2 people are currently reading
12 people want to read
About the author
Marina Osipova
8 books32 followersMarina Osipova was born in East Germany into a military family and grew up in Russia, where she graduated from the Moscow State Institute of History and Archives. When she was five, she decided she wanted to speak German and, years later, she earned a diploma as a German language translator from the Moscow State Institute of Foreign Languages. In Russia, she worked first in a scientific-technical institute as a translator, then in a Government Ministry in the office of international relations, later for some Austrian firms. For many years, she lived in New York, working in a law firm, and then in Austria for several years. In the spring of 2022, after spending ten months in Russia, some unfortunate world events brought her back to the United States.
A long-standing member of the Historical Novel Society, she is dedicated to writing historical fiction, especially related to WWII. Her books garnered numerous literary awards, including a 1st Place WINNER of the 2021 Hemingway Book Awards novel competition for 20th Century Wartime Fiction (a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards). At some point or another, all her books hit the Amazon Top 100 lists in Historical Russian Fiction and Historical German Fiction and How Dare the Birds Sing even #1 or #2 in War Fiction in Canada, the UK, and Australia.
Her readers praise her books for “emotional realism,” for “taking on a subject that few authors have touched,” for “writing with heart and compassion while not holding back from hard cold realities of war,” for “giving an authentic and in-depth look at a culture that tends to baffle westerners.”
To learn more about Marina Osipova and her captivating books, visit her website at https://www. marina-osipova.com.
You can find her also on
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marina.osipo...
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
Twitter: https://twitter.com/marosikok
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marina-os...
A long-standing member of the Historical Novel Society, she is dedicated to writing historical fiction, especially related to WWII. Her books garnered numerous literary awards, including a 1st Place WINNER of the 2021 Hemingway Book Awards novel competition for 20th Century Wartime Fiction (a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards). At some point or another, all her books hit the Amazon Top 100 lists in Historical Russian Fiction and Historical German Fiction and How Dare the Birds Sing even #1 or #2 in War Fiction in Canada, the UK, and Australia.
Her readers praise her books for “emotional realism,” for “taking on a subject that few authors have touched,” for “writing with heart and compassion while not holding back from hard cold realities of war,” for “giving an authentic and in-depth look at a culture that tends to baffle westerners.”
To learn more about Marina Osipova and her captivating books, visit her website at https://www. marina-osipova.com.
You can find her also on
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marina.osipo...
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
Twitter: https://twitter.com/marosikok
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marina-os...
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
November 21, 2023
3.5 stars
The Drau River Flows to Siberia: The Victims of Victory is set in Russia and follows the events of some of the lesser known facts about the fall-out of the 1945 Yalta agreement.
The book has four specific parts and opens in the early 1940s when, as a young girl, Anna has nowhere to turn after her aunt disappeared. Anna is left in an area of Russia that the Germans now occupy; persuaded by propaganda she believes that her only option is to volunteer for work in Germany.
Reality is far from what was promised and Anna is no more than a slave. She is taken to work on a farm in Austria, spending the next three years there. With the end of the war looming, the news that Russians are being welcomed back to the Motherland looks promising. Anna leaves her Austrian life and hopes to be reunited with her father and brother in Moscow, but a very different reality awaits Anna.
Alongside Anna’s story is that of former Cossack Zakhary; an interpreter during the war, Zakhary also gets caught up in the fall-out from the Yalta agreement. Although the majority of the first third of the book deals with Anna’s story, the reader is given breaks with a little back and forth to 1955. Anna and Zakhary are two people waiting for a boat and while they wait Anna tells him her story. As the book continues, we read chapters from Zakhary’s experiences and they often alternate with Anna’s. The idea is that Anna tells her story from the last fourteen years over the space of a few hours.
The historical details of this story are important and it is good that they are exposed. However, I found the story slowed in places and thought that it would benefit from cutting down without losing any of the important events.
The Drau River Flows to Siberia: The Victims of Victory is set in Russia and follows the events of some of the lesser known facts about the fall-out of the 1945 Yalta agreement.
The book has four specific parts and opens in the early 1940s when, as a young girl, Anna has nowhere to turn after her aunt disappeared. Anna is left in an area of Russia that the Germans now occupy; persuaded by propaganda she believes that her only option is to volunteer for work in Germany.
Reality is far from what was promised and Anna is no more than a slave. She is taken to work on a farm in Austria, spending the next three years there. With the end of the war looming, the news that Russians are being welcomed back to the Motherland looks promising. Anna leaves her Austrian life and hopes to be reunited with her father and brother in Moscow, but a very different reality awaits Anna.
Alongside Anna’s story is that of former Cossack Zakhary; an interpreter during the war, Zakhary also gets caught up in the fall-out from the Yalta agreement. Although the majority of the first third of the book deals with Anna’s story, the reader is given breaks with a little back and forth to 1955. Anna and Zakhary are two people waiting for a boat and while they wait Anna tells him her story. As the book continues, we read chapters from Zakhary’s experiences and they often alternate with Anna’s. The idea is that Anna tells her story from the last fourteen years over the space of a few hours.
The historical details of this story are important and it is good that they are exposed. However, I found the story slowed in places and thought that it would benefit from cutting down without losing any of the important events.
October 18, 2023
Refreshing!
In the past decade, there were a number of books published that are called Pop-Holocaust. These are historically inaccurate novels, with strong romantic threads and are often set in the most horrible places of terror you can imagine, such as Auschwitz. Many argued that these novels are highly disrespectful towards the 6 million of victims. I totally agree.
Instinctively I felt that a novel written by a Russian author would be different, closer to the real events, and would show great empathy and understanding of the lives of ordinary people and their fate during the Soviet era. I´m pleased to say that I was right.
The whole story is told by two people Anna and Zakhary. They meet in Syberia and they tell each other about their past. The narration goes backward and forwards. In such cases, it´s easy to create a mess and put the reader off, because it's easy to lose track. Here, however, I want to highlight that the author and the editing team have done a brilliant job. Zakhary's story starts at 30% of the book. This simple decision makes such a difference. I didn´t get lost in time and their stories. I knew exactly where were we at all times. The reading experience was flawless. Thank you :)
The stories are based on real events. I´ve read over many years lots of true accounts written by survivors, enough to know that what the author portrays here is totally believable. I am familiar with the Yalta agreement and the repatriations. But I had no idea about the Cossaks' military involvement in WW2. So I guess I learned something new.
It´s a very good book. Definitely worth your time.
In the past decade, there were a number of books published that are called Pop-Holocaust. These are historically inaccurate novels, with strong romantic threads and are often set in the most horrible places of terror you can imagine, such as Auschwitz. Many argued that these novels are highly disrespectful towards the 6 million of victims. I totally agree.
Instinctively I felt that a novel written by a Russian author would be different, closer to the real events, and would show great empathy and understanding of the lives of ordinary people and their fate during the Soviet era. I´m pleased to say that I was right.
The whole story is told by two people Anna and Zakhary. They meet in Syberia and they tell each other about their past. The narration goes backward and forwards. In such cases, it´s easy to create a mess and put the reader off, because it's easy to lose track. Here, however, I want to highlight that the author and the editing team have done a brilliant job. Zakhary's story starts at 30% of the book. This simple decision makes such a difference. I didn´t get lost in time and their stories. I knew exactly where were we at all times. The reading experience was flawless. Thank you :)
The stories are based on real events. I´ve read over many years lots of true accounts written by survivors, enough to know that what the author portrays here is totally believable. I am familiar with the Yalta agreement and the repatriations. But I had no idea about the Cossaks' military involvement in WW2. So I guess I learned something new.
It´s a very good book. Definitely worth your time.
September 27, 2023
The year is 1955 and Anna has been released from the hellish Gulag system in the Soviet Union. As she stares out at the Ob River she is approached by a stranger, later revealed to us as a fellow former inmate named Zakhary. As the two former inmates wait for transportation they fall into conversation about how they ended up in such a hellish place.
For Anna, it began when she decided to spend the summer of 1941 with her aunt Nina, desperate to get away from her Party conscious father and brother, who dismiss her dreams of becoming an operetta actress and believe she should chose something more practical and more in line with serving the Soviet Union. Yet, the pleasant and carefree summer Anna dreamed is obliterated when the Germans invade and Anna’s aunt goes missing.
As she recalls her story, Zakhary also remembers his past. At the end of the war Zakhary and his unit, made entirely of exiled Cossacks, hand themselves over to the British. They are promised fair treatment and that they won’t be returned to the Soviet Union, who many Cossacks openly despise and fear as they had fought against them during the Russian Civil War. For Zakhary, he not only worries about himself but for his wife and unborn son. The war is now over, he reasons, and he can begin to build the life he always wanted.
So, how was it that Anna and Zakhary became prisoners of the Soviet Union? As it turns out, the reason might be more shocking than anyone realized.
First, I wish to thank Marina Osipova for so kindly giving me an early copy of her book. I’ve followed Ms. Osipova’s works for a while now and she is not only a gifted storyteller but an author who isn’t afraid to write about the tragedies that seemed to follow all Soviet citizens, both within and outside their country. The Drau River Flows to Siberia: The Victims of Victory might be her most eye opening story yet as it retells an event that very few people today know about.
The basis for this book is the Yalta Conference in which the British and Americans willfully (and this cannot be emphasized enough) agreed to hand over all Soviet POWs, forced laborers, and Cossacks to the Soviet Union. Now, one might argue that the British and Americans knew nothing about the horrific Gulag system that awaited these men and women but we know that is far from the truth and stories about Stalin’s brutality had appeared in Western media not long after he had taken control. So, they knew what they were agreeing to but, in order to keep the peace with Stalin, the British and Americans willingly allowed thousands of people to be worked to death.
Naturally, as a reader and knowing Anna and Zakhary’s stories, this infuriated me to no end.
Now, one could get into a huge debate about whether all inmates did or did not deserve what happened to them but that is beside the point for this review. The characters of Anna and Zakhary are used to show the horrible predicament many innocent people found themselves in after the war. Many had suffered greatly, losing family and friends and being abused by the Axis forces. Yet many still held onto their dream of going home one day and reuniting with the few loved ones they still had left. When the war ended and they were promised a safe return to their country, many felt as if their nightmare had finally ended, not realizing that a new one was just beginning.
Anna and Zakhary are faced with unimaginable hardships, making seemingly impossible decisions and somehow finding the courage and drive to survive their imprisonment. Both characters are excellently written and developed in this character driven story, and as the reader we cry for their pain, cheer them on when they have little successes, and feel relief for them when they finally succeed. The story is well paced and the epilogue provides the closure the reader craves by the end.
For Anna, it began when she decided to spend the summer of 1941 with her aunt Nina, desperate to get away from her Party conscious father and brother, who dismiss her dreams of becoming an operetta actress and believe she should chose something more practical and more in line with serving the Soviet Union. Yet, the pleasant and carefree summer Anna dreamed is obliterated when the Germans invade and Anna’s aunt goes missing.
As she recalls her story, Zakhary also remembers his past. At the end of the war Zakhary and his unit, made entirely of exiled Cossacks, hand themselves over to the British. They are promised fair treatment and that they won’t be returned to the Soviet Union, who many Cossacks openly despise and fear as they had fought against them during the Russian Civil War. For Zakhary, he not only worries about himself but for his wife and unborn son. The war is now over, he reasons, and he can begin to build the life he always wanted.
So, how was it that Anna and Zakhary became prisoners of the Soviet Union? As it turns out, the reason might be more shocking than anyone realized.
First, I wish to thank Marina Osipova for so kindly giving me an early copy of her book. I’ve followed Ms. Osipova’s works for a while now and she is not only a gifted storyteller but an author who isn’t afraid to write about the tragedies that seemed to follow all Soviet citizens, both within and outside their country. The Drau River Flows to Siberia: The Victims of Victory might be her most eye opening story yet as it retells an event that very few people today know about.
The basis for this book is the Yalta Conference in which the British and Americans willfully (and this cannot be emphasized enough) agreed to hand over all Soviet POWs, forced laborers, and Cossacks to the Soviet Union. Now, one might argue that the British and Americans knew nothing about the horrific Gulag system that awaited these men and women but we know that is far from the truth and stories about Stalin’s brutality had appeared in Western media not long after he had taken control. So, they knew what they were agreeing to but, in order to keep the peace with Stalin, the British and Americans willingly allowed thousands of people to be worked to death.
Naturally, as a reader and knowing Anna and Zakhary’s stories, this infuriated me to no end.
Now, one could get into a huge debate about whether all inmates did or did not deserve what happened to them but that is beside the point for this review. The characters of Anna and Zakhary are used to show the horrible predicament many innocent people found themselves in after the war. Many had suffered greatly, losing family and friends and being abused by the Axis forces. Yet many still held onto their dream of going home one day and reuniting with the few loved ones they still had left. When the war ended and they were promised a safe return to their country, many felt as if their nightmare had finally ended, not realizing that a new one was just beginning.
Anna and Zakhary are faced with unimaginable hardships, making seemingly impossible decisions and somehow finding the courage and drive to survive their imprisonment. Both characters are excellently written and developed in this character driven story, and as the reader we cry for their pain, cheer them on when they have little successes, and feel relief for them when they finally succeed. The story is well paced and the epilogue provides the closure the reader craves by the end.
February 8, 2024
The starting point for this superb novel is an event that occurred in Austria at the end of the second World war. As the author acknowledges, it was first highlighted by Nikolai Tolstoy*. An agreement between the victorious allies mandated the repatriation to the Soviet Union of ethnic Cossacks and Russian citizens captured by the German army. This, despite the fact that the majority were opposed to the Stalinist regime and viewed with terror their likely fate at the hands of the authorities there.
They were assembled alongside the Drau river in the Tyrol and guarded by a contingent of the British army. Initially sympathetic to the captives, the British were unable to reverse the political decision and, instead, found themselves enforcing the hand-over in the face of resistance from the captives. Many took their own lives rather than give themselves up to the Soviets. Others were bludgeoned by British soldiers and thrown unconscious into rail trucks.
The novel follows the lives of two fictional characters. One, a young man, born in Germany to a family of Russian emigrés who reluctantly joined the German army in opposition to Soviet Russia, working as a translator. The other, a young Russian woman, captured by the German army and assigned as forced labour to an Austrian farming family. Upon arrival in Russia, each is sentenced to internment in different Siberian Gulags.
As the book begins, it is 1955 and they are both awaiting the arrival of a steamer at a pier on the Ob river in Siberia. She tells her story to him, a stranger, whilst he silently recalls his own story.
Both stories are often harrowing but each, in its way, is a testament to human resilience. The characters are brilliantly realised. The many scenes immersive for the reader. The book highlights the indifference of military personnel and bureaucrats alike to human suffering, alongside the power of the human spirit to overcome the most appalling hardship.
The way in which certain officials soften their approach to their assigned tasks towards the end of the book illustrates that the brutalisation caused by exposure to violent conflict can fade over time.
I found some of the English words used in this translation a little strange but this is a minor gripe, Overall I am happy to rate the book with four stars and to recommend it to anyone interested in the history of World War II and its aftermath.
*Critics of Tolstoy point out that his account downplays the role of the Cossacks in the German army, as does this book. Among those repatriated from Austria were a group who, in 1944, occupied a region of Northern Italy, where they evicted the local population and established military units and settlements, committing numerous atrocities of their own.
I received a free copy of this book for review as part of Rosie Amber's team of reviewers.
They were assembled alongside the Drau river in the Tyrol and guarded by a contingent of the British army. Initially sympathetic to the captives, the British were unable to reverse the political decision and, instead, found themselves enforcing the hand-over in the face of resistance from the captives. Many took their own lives rather than give themselves up to the Soviets. Others were bludgeoned by British soldiers and thrown unconscious into rail trucks.
The novel follows the lives of two fictional characters. One, a young man, born in Germany to a family of Russian emigrés who reluctantly joined the German army in opposition to Soviet Russia, working as a translator. The other, a young Russian woman, captured by the German army and assigned as forced labour to an Austrian farming family. Upon arrival in Russia, each is sentenced to internment in different Siberian Gulags.
As the book begins, it is 1955 and they are both awaiting the arrival of a steamer at a pier on the Ob river in Siberia. She tells her story to him, a stranger, whilst he silently recalls his own story.
Both stories are often harrowing but each, in its way, is a testament to human resilience. The characters are brilliantly realised. The many scenes immersive for the reader. The book highlights the indifference of military personnel and bureaucrats alike to human suffering, alongside the power of the human spirit to overcome the most appalling hardship.
The way in which certain officials soften their approach to their assigned tasks towards the end of the book illustrates that the brutalisation caused by exposure to violent conflict can fade over time.
I found some of the English words used in this translation a little strange but this is a minor gripe, Overall I am happy to rate the book with four stars and to recommend it to anyone interested in the history of World War II and its aftermath.
*Critics of Tolstoy point out that his account downplays the role of the Cossacks in the German army, as does this book. Among those repatriated from Austria were a group who, in 1944, occupied a region of Northern Italy, where they evicted the local population and established military units and settlements, committing numerous atrocities of their own.
I received a free copy of this book for review as part of Rosie Amber's team of reviewers.
October 30, 2023
The Yalta Conference in February of 1945 featured Churchill, Stalin, and Roosevelt. They discussed and eventually agreed on the future conduct of the war and made commitments regarding the return of occupied countries to their former sovereignty and to the free movement and freedom of the millions of displaced and imprisoned eastern Europeans.
None of these commitments were honored and no promises were kept.
Marina Osipova's brilliant masterpiece, "The Drau River Glows to Siberia: The Victims of Victory", takes the reader far beyond the dry treatises that address the ramifications of Yalta.
Through lyrical, often poetic prose, Ms. Osipiva transports us to the forced labor camps in Siberia where hopelessness and brutality reigned. We become one with many of those betrayed people, and we live their lives along with them.
We share the heartache, the terror, the numbing cold, the back and spirit breaking work days, and the internal emotional and physical pain of Anna, Zachary, and several others.
This book helps us to better appreciate the struggles of millions of people callously disregarded by world leaders and the victorious Allies in the aftermath of World War II.
The Book also shows us resilience and the triumph of the human spirit.
This wonderful book will break your heart, move you to tears, make you angry, and show you the healing power of shared pain and love.
None of these commitments were honored and no promises were kept.
Marina Osipova's brilliant masterpiece, "The Drau River Glows to Siberia: The Victims of Victory", takes the reader far beyond the dry treatises that address the ramifications of Yalta.
Through lyrical, often poetic prose, Ms. Osipiva transports us to the forced labor camps in Siberia where hopelessness and brutality reigned. We become one with many of those betrayed people, and we live their lives along with them.
We share the heartache, the terror, the numbing cold, the back and spirit breaking work days, and the internal emotional and physical pain of Anna, Zachary, and several others.
This book helps us to better appreciate the struggles of millions of people callously disregarded by world leaders and the victorious Allies in the aftermath of World War II.
The Book also shows us resilience and the triumph of the human spirit.
This wonderful book will break your heart, move you to tears, make you angry, and show you the healing power of shared pain and love.
October 26, 2023
This is the fourth book I've read by Marina Osipova so I was prepared to learn about little-known historical events while experiencing soul-crushing despair on behalf of the characters. I knew nothing about the human cost at the end of World War II due to the Yalta Agreement but now I will never be able to erase it from my memory.
The story unfolds as Anna begins to tell her personal tale to Zakhary while they are both waiting for the boat to take them away from Siberia. It is 1955 and each has finally been released from the Gulag system. The author masterfully shows what happens to ordinary people when they are caught up in a war and a totalitarian country. I can't imagine the joy of surviving the war, against all odds, only to be sentenced to slave labor in Siberia as an enemy of the Soviet Union. Anna, Zakhary, and so many others were indeed "the victims of victory." Their shameful fate had been sealed in Yalta by Churchill and Roosevelt. It's past time for this to be exposed and reading this book as well as sharing it is a good start. I highly recommend it to everyone who enjoys historical fiction.
Many thanks to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for the digital ARC. All opinions and the review are my own.
The story unfolds as Anna begins to tell her personal tale to Zakhary while they are both waiting for the boat to take them away from Siberia. It is 1955 and each has finally been released from the Gulag system. The author masterfully shows what happens to ordinary people when they are caught up in a war and a totalitarian country. I can't imagine the joy of surviving the war, against all odds, only to be sentenced to slave labor in Siberia as an enemy of the Soviet Union. Anna, Zakhary, and so many others were indeed "the victims of victory." Their shameful fate had been sealed in Yalta by Churchill and Roosevelt. It's past time for this to be exposed and reading this book as well as sharing it is a good start. I highly recommend it to everyone who enjoys historical fiction.
Many thanks to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for the digital ARC. All opinions and the review are my own.
December 2, 2023
An incredible book!!!
Where to begin?
First, Marina Osipova continually amazes me in her ability to research and gather all of these complicated and detailed facts~she then places them all together to be easily read and understood. WWII history is rather overwhelming! Russian history is vast!! There is so much to cover, yet she very succinctly puts it together for her readers. The history lessons she gives us are tremendous, she doesn’t just end there though, she gets inside the heart and soul of her characters and we know them and feel them and walk away richer from connecting with them. She describes deeply the conflict they are facing, the suffering, fears, heartache, the agony of their physical and emotional pain and the special joy they are feeling in a simple gesture of kindness and goodness. She goes deep!
My heart broke for Zakhary and Anna and many others throughout the story.
The unbearable suffering people endured is beyond anything we can relate to. These camps weren’t new to me, but every single time, I am shocked by the evil man will do to his fellow man. I don’t think anytime in history can be compared to the evil brutality of Stalin and Hitler. (Except maybe one other I can think of.) Reading this book and others of this nature are heartbreaking and devastating but they lived it!! While difficult, they inspire me to press on and not complain. What have I to complain about?
Thank you Marina, for another wonderful book that opens our eyes to the truth and helps us to have greater compassion for others.
I marvel at your writing skills.
Each book you’ve written comes to life and touches me deeply.
pamarella
PRCS
Where to begin?
First, Marina Osipova continually amazes me in her ability to research and gather all of these complicated and detailed facts~she then places them all together to be easily read and understood. WWII history is rather overwhelming! Russian history is vast!! There is so much to cover, yet she very succinctly puts it together for her readers. The history lessons she gives us are tremendous, she doesn’t just end there though, she gets inside the heart and soul of her characters and we know them and feel them and walk away richer from connecting with them. She describes deeply the conflict they are facing, the suffering, fears, heartache, the agony of their physical and emotional pain and the special joy they are feeling in a simple gesture of kindness and goodness. She goes deep!
My heart broke for Zakhary and Anna and many others throughout the story.
The unbearable suffering people endured is beyond anything we can relate to. These camps weren’t new to me, but every single time, I am shocked by the evil man will do to his fellow man. I don’t think anytime in history can be compared to the evil brutality of Stalin and Hitler. (Except maybe one other I can think of.) Reading this book and others of this nature are heartbreaking and devastating but they lived it!! While difficult, they inspire me to press on and not complain. What have I to complain about?
Thank you Marina, for another wonderful book that opens our eyes to the truth and helps us to have greater compassion for others.
I marvel at your writing skills.
Each book you’ve written comes to life and touches me deeply.
pamarella
PRCS
May 10, 2024
“Victims of Victory” is a very moving tale, with the two heroes, Anna and Zakhary, suffering unbelievable ordeals, which just goes to show that the real villains in this are the three historical figures on the book’s cover. They carved out the world amongst themselves at Yalta, with the two western leaders’ message of a freer world after the war ringing hollow—they left Stalin to his devices and his red brand of fascism. “Now, the Cossacks felt relieved at being under the safeguard of the great and civilized British monarchy…” I can almost taste the irony, and the author’s sarcasm.
I’ll refrain from relating the story, as other reviewers have done this so much better than I could. I will only add that the ending (no spoilers!) ties both of our heroes’ narratives together in a truly satisfying way. Well done, Marina!
I’ll refrain from relating the story, as other reviewers have done this so much better than I could. I will only add that the ending (no spoilers!) ties both of our heroes’ narratives together in a truly satisfying way. Well done, Marina!
October 28, 2024
This book was entered in The Wishing Shelf Book Awards. This is what our readers thought:
Title: The Drau River Flows to Siberia: The Victims of Victory
Author: Marina Osipova
Star Rating: 5 Stars
Number of Readers: 15
Stats
Editing: 9/10
Writing Style: 9/10
Content: 9/10
Cover: 5/5
Of the 15 readers:
14 would read another book by this author.
15 thought the cover was good or excellent.
14 felt it was easy to follow.
15 would recommend this book to another reader to try.
Of all the readers, 4 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘plotting a story’.
Of all the readers, 6 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘developing the characters’.
Of all the readers, 5 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘writing style’.
15 felt the pacing was good or excellent.
14 thought the author understood the readership and what they wanted.
Readers’ Comments
“A sad story in so many ways, set during a tragic part of history. The writer is very accomplished, developing her two MCs and showing the reader the brutality of WW2, specifically Stalin and Hitler. In terms of historical accuracy, the writer seems to know the time/place well. All in all, a wonderful book with a thought-provoking plot.” Male reader, aged 55
“Zakhary and Anna develop so much within the story. It’s not often you get to meet such broken characters; broken by the terrible evens of WW2 and the aftermath. Grim, yet engrossing, I enjoyed every word.” Female reader, aged 62
“Well-written, strong pacing, outstanding character developments of the MCs. I’d recommend this to anybody interested in the events of WW2 in Europe.” Female reader, aged 32
“Though the story covers a number of years, it still feels tightly plotted. I felt I got to know the characters very well, even the secondary. I look forward to reading other books by this talented author.” Female reader, aged 71
“The extent the author went to in understanding this grim time in history is highly impressive. It’s not a short novel; it never could be considering the subject matter, but I was never bored, enjoying it till the last page. The sort of novel that stays with you; that you want to discuss over coffee.” Female reader, aged 67
To Sum It Up:
‘A compelling, strongly paced WW2 drama packed full of memorable characters. A FINALIST and highly recommended!’ The Wishing Shelf Book Awards
Title: The Drau River Flows to Siberia: The Victims of Victory
Author: Marina Osipova
Star Rating: 5 Stars
Number of Readers: 15
Stats
Editing: 9/10
Writing Style: 9/10
Content: 9/10
Cover: 5/5
Of the 15 readers:
14 would read another book by this author.
15 thought the cover was good or excellent.
14 felt it was easy to follow.
15 would recommend this book to another reader to try.
Of all the readers, 4 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘plotting a story’.
Of all the readers, 6 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘developing the characters’.
Of all the readers, 5 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘writing style’.
15 felt the pacing was good or excellent.
14 thought the author understood the readership and what they wanted.
Readers’ Comments
“A sad story in so many ways, set during a tragic part of history. The writer is very accomplished, developing her two MCs and showing the reader the brutality of WW2, specifically Stalin and Hitler. In terms of historical accuracy, the writer seems to know the time/place well. All in all, a wonderful book with a thought-provoking plot.” Male reader, aged 55
“Zakhary and Anna develop so much within the story. It’s not often you get to meet such broken characters; broken by the terrible evens of WW2 and the aftermath. Grim, yet engrossing, I enjoyed every word.” Female reader, aged 62
“Well-written, strong pacing, outstanding character developments of the MCs. I’d recommend this to anybody interested in the events of WW2 in Europe.” Female reader, aged 32
“Though the story covers a number of years, it still feels tightly plotted. I felt I got to know the characters very well, even the secondary. I look forward to reading other books by this talented author.” Female reader, aged 71
“The extent the author went to in understanding this grim time in history is highly impressive. It’s not a short novel; it never could be considering the subject matter, but I was never bored, enjoying it till the last page. The sort of novel that stays with you; that you want to discuss over coffee.” Female reader, aged 67
To Sum It Up:
‘A compelling, strongly paced WW2 drama packed full of memorable characters. A FINALIST and highly recommended!’ The Wishing Shelf Book Awards
October 3, 2023
The Drau River Flows to Siberia: The Victims of Victory by Marina Osipova starts out with a beautifully illusive sentence, “How did you win up on this shore of sorrow?” a voice comes, like a breeze of wind, in a whisper and right away I’m drawn in, taken away, wanting to know what will unfold. A woman named Anna stares at the Ob River and distinguishes a maple leaf that struggles to stay above the gushing foam. The poetic words are vividly lyrical describing Anna struggling to remain on the surface and my heart is connected with this character, wanting to know what has happened to her. The story moves seamlessly from scene to scene with beautiful metaphorical descriptions that take the reader back a several days where Anna stood before a Major in charge of supervising criminals released by Decree in 1954. The weekly routine was important to her as she hopes to find out the whereabouts of her father and brother, last seen in Moscow 1941. Recollections occur that give a hint of a tortured time in camp, the officer wanting her and she doesn’t reciprocate only to land on the shores of sorrow. The story moves back go 1942. Anna is sixteen and in Krasnodar where German soldiers are cracking whips. The characters are vividly described: her brother a communist zealot, her father a red army commander, her mother a teacher, Aunt Nina – her mother’s twin, an artist, to name a few. Wanting to be an operetta actress, she is at odds with her communist loving family. After her mother’s death her father and aunt debated her fate. She goes to stay with Aunt Nina.
The story moves to 1955, Siberia – Zakhary. A man on the bench drawn to a woman he’ll never forget. The weaving back in time and back to the present on the bench is riveting, compelling, and heartbreaking but in the heartache is benediction for what is good in the human condition, the making of connection, the sharing of good. The research is impeccable and excruciating in detail making it hard to stop reading. Gripped by the way the author drew me in and held me tight to each character and unfolding scene, with attention to historical detail and equally shared attention to authentic emotional character development this story is the stuff of great Russian literature. Highly recommend.
The story moves to 1955, Siberia – Zakhary. A man on the bench drawn to a woman he’ll never forget. The weaving back in time and back to the present on the bench is riveting, compelling, and heartbreaking but in the heartache is benediction for what is good in the human condition, the making of connection, the sharing of good. The research is impeccable and excruciating in detail making it hard to stop reading. Gripped by the way the author drew me in and held me tight to each character and unfolding scene, with attention to historical detail and equally shared attention to authentic emotional character development this story is the stuff of great Russian literature. Highly recommend.
October 28, 2023
"Every once in a while you come across a story in a book that stays with you, the memories from scenes etched into your gray matter – the emotions you felt fresh as if witnessing them in this alive present moment. These are the stories that become classics, like Doctor Zhivago and I use that title intentionally for I am reminded of the depth of Pasternak’s work having just read Osipova’s novel The Drau River Flows to Siberia: The Victims of Victory. Just as Yuri Andreyevich Zhivago and Larissa “Lara” Antipova have stayed with me so have Osipova’s characters Anna and Zakhary. Their characters develop with haunting depth and emotional clarity as we get to know them, know their stories and what brought them to the banks of a river telling each other about their lives. The adage you don’t know someone until you hear their story is so true in this work for their unfolding stories are extremely powerful, moving, and horrific – their stories molded and conditioned them. Their stories and the flow of this brilliant work point to the resilience of the human spirit and the power of love. A love that withstands destructive evil forces and tears families, friends, and nations asunder. A love that grabs you with purpose that clearly highlights there is no higher reason for living. All else can be taken from someone but the human bond, the loving connection, a forever that lifts us in the darkest of times. Where the author particularly shines is in her masterful attention to historical detail and vivid scene descriptions where leaves on trees come alive and the voice of a river screams its deafening message. This is no ordinary war-torn story, it is a cultural masterpiece that opens a window into life in Russia and Austria and the impact of WW2 on ordinary people. As I write this review I am shaking my head in disgust at the animosity we humans cast upon each other, never more lit up in burning flames than in this novel but yet there is benediction. There is redemption. There is much good and in the end when all has been said and I sit mouth agape, I have tears rolling down my cheeks and chills running up my spine. Highly recommend."
January 8, 2024
I read this via an ARC from the author, for Rosie's Book Review Team. The fact that it was free has not affected this honest review.
I feel quite exhausted having just finished this book, a lengthy novel in which I was engrossed throughout. It centres around what happened to anti-Soviet Russian nationals at the end of WWII - mostly the Cossacks of Ukraine and other 'enemies' of the Allies - at the hands of the victors: the British and Americans as well as Stalin's Red Army, who also assured Germans that they would remain in the hands of the Western Powers. All in the name of 'repatriation'.
Anna and Zakhary, finally set free from incarceration under the most brutal of regimes, are strangers who meet by chance on an isolated peninsula of the Ob River, in 1955. While waiting many hours for a boat, they tell each other their stories, immediately taking the reader back to the end of the war and the unforeseen dangers that lay along the paths they were about to walk.
Zakhary was a German national whose Cossack father had taken his family to live in Germany. Anna found herself separated from her family when the Wehrmacht occupied her town, and was offered the chance to work in Germany; sadly, she believed lies about what a good move this would be. At the end of the war, though, she finds that nothing she experienced in the last few years has prepared her for what is to come.
The slippery hand of fate takes both of them to the Siberian gulags; although this is fiction, you cannot help but be aware, throughout, that everything Anna and Zakhary went through was experienced by hundreds of thousands, many of whom would never see freedom again.
This isn't just about the evils of Communism, or of war, but man's inhumanity to man. My only (tiny!) complaint is the occasional use of American English. Words like 'normalcy' 'cookies' and 'fall' (rather than autumn) never sit right with me when the book is about European or Eurasian people. But I doubt anyone will mind that as much as I do, if at all, and this really is a terrific book.
I feel quite exhausted having just finished this book, a lengthy novel in which I was engrossed throughout. It centres around what happened to anti-Soviet Russian nationals at the end of WWII - mostly the Cossacks of Ukraine and other 'enemies' of the Allies - at the hands of the victors: the British and Americans as well as Stalin's Red Army, who also assured Germans that they would remain in the hands of the Western Powers. All in the name of 'repatriation'.
Anna and Zakhary, finally set free from incarceration under the most brutal of regimes, are strangers who meet by chance on an isolated peninsula of the Ob River, in 1955. While waiting many hours for a boat, they tell each other their stories, immediately taking the reader back to the end of the war and the unforeseen dangers that lay along the paths they were about to walk.
Zakhary was a German national whose Cossack father had taken his family to live in Germany. Anna found herself separated from her family when the Wehrmacht occupied her town, and was offered the chance to work in Germany; sadly, she believed lies about what a good move this would be. At the end of the war, though, she finds that nothing she experienced in the last few years has prepared her for what is to come.
The slippery hand of fate takes both of them to the Siberian gulags; although this is fiction, you cannot help but be aware, throughout, that everything Anna and Zakhary went through was experienced by hundreds of thousands, many of whom would never see freedom again.
This isn't just about the evils of Communism, or of war, but man's inhumanity to man. My only (tiny!) complaint is the occasional use of American English. Words like 'normalcy' 'cookies' and 'fall' (rather than autumn) never sit right with me when the book is about European or Eurasian people. But I doubt anyone will mind that as much as I do, if at all, and this really is a terrific book.
November 13, 2024
5.0 out of 5 stars Important and Difficult True Story
Reviewed in the United States on November 23, 2023
Verified Purchase
I chose to read this because I admire Marina Osipova's writing and storytelling. I also chose this because my Volga German grandparents emigrated from Kutter, Russia, to the USA in 1912. My mother told me stories about my grandmother's correspondence with the family she left behind. Then in mid-1930s, the communication stopped. All my grandmother knew then was the possibility of their families in Russia being sent to Siberia. I wanted to know why and what happened to them; Marina Osipova writes the horrific true and detailed story about what probably did happen to my ancestral families. I found the story difficult to read, as I do now as I write this, my heart aches and tears run down my cheeks. As a teacher, having taught the Holocaust for 25 years, I know in great detail about the Nazis. I did not know what happened in Russia and Germany after WWI and WWII. The author stated in the epilogue that she didn't even write the worst of the horror. How could it be any worse, I wonder, especially the horror that the Allies contributed. I'm sure my grandparents were heart-broken; I am heart-broken just imagining what they and their families in Russia went through. I admire Marina Osipova's courage in writing this and others of her books. How she can get through the horror while writing is a mystery to me. These are things we don't learn in history classes. But we all need to get the bags off our heads and understand what really did happen. I cry as I say "Thank you, Marina."
Reviewed in the United States on November 23, 2023
Verified Purchase
I chose to read this because I admire Marina Osipova's writing and storytelling. I also chose this because my Volga German grandparents emigrated from Kutter, Russia, to the USA in 1912. My mother told me stories about my grandmother's correspondence with the family she left behind. Then in mid-1930s, the communication stopped. All my grandmother knew then was the possibility of their families in Russia being sent to Siberia. I wanted to know why and what happened to them; Marina Osipova writes the horrific true and detailed story about what probably did happen to my ancestral families. I found the story difficult to read, as I do now as I write this, my heart aches and tears run down my cheeks. As a teacher, having taught the Holocaust for 25 years, I know in great detail about the Nazis. I did not know what happened in Russia and Germany after WWI and WWII. The author stated in the epilogue that she didn't even write the worst of the horror. How could it be any worse, I wonder, especially the horror that the Allies contributed. I'm sure my grandparents were heart-broken; I am heart-broken just imagining what they and their families in Russia went through. I admire Marina Osipova's courage in writing this and others of her books. How she can get through the horror while writing is a mystery to me. These are things we don't learn in history classes. But we all need to get the bags off our heads and understand what really did happen. I cry as I say "Thank you, Marina."
September 30, 2023
The stories of WWII are countless, but some of them were purposely silenced. This masterful piece of writing by Marina Osipova is one of the few who has brought to the surface an episode in the war that some would gladly keep hidden.
Although the events are independently very well documented and validated from different sides of the conflict, the author has resurrected a shameful act that was perpetrated by victorious Allies against innocent victims, albeit in the name of geopolitical hegemony through agreements emanating from the Yalta Conference.
I, as an Englishman, brought up in the traditional way of honour and the Marquess of Queensbury rules, etc., found it hard to read the very disturbing account of this disgraceful period of British military history.
It meant the event known as the Massacre of Cossacks at Lienz in Austria to be a controlled handing over of Cossacks, including women and children and the elderly, to the Russians. The Cossacks refused, because they knew what fate awaited them in the Soviet Union—and many were not even Soviet nationals—certain death for some or a Siberian Gulag for others.
Osipova’s fictional historical narrative of the horrific period is based on real events and archival materials. The narrative focuses on the lives of individuals whose fate was decided by the Allies.
Although the events are independently very well documented and validated from different sides of the conflict, the author has resurrected a shameful act that was perpetrated by victorious Allies against innocent victims, albeit in the name of geopolitical hegemony through agreements emanating from the Yalta Conference.
I, as an Englishman, brought up in the traditional way of honour and the Marquess of Queensbury rules, etc., found it hard to read the very disturbing account of this disgraceful period of British military history.
It meant the event known as the Massacre of Cossacks at Lienz in Austria to be a controlled handing over of Cossacks, including women and children and the elderly, to the Russians. The Cossacks refused, because they knew what fate awaited them in the Soviet Union—and many were not even Soviet nationals—certain death for some or a Siberian Gulag for others.
Osipova’s fictional historical narrative of the horrific period is based on real events and archival materials. The narrative focuses on the lives of individuals whose fate was decided by the Allies.
December 14, 2024
The Review
This was such a compelling and heartfelt read. The author did an incredible job of drawing attention to a crucial yet rarely discussed part of WWII history: the impact of the war on the former Soviet Union and its citizens. The amount of detail the author can pour into this narrative and the emotional impact these characters and their journey have on the reader will leave a lasting impression on them.
The haunting realities the author painted with the imagery in their writing brought the horrors of war and the challenges many faced during this time. The savage nature of humanity during this time and how people were forced to endure and embrace resilience in the face of unimaginable horrors is a central theme of this story and the heart of these characters overall. The exploration of history as a whole was also remarkable, from the role and development of the Russian Gulag to the role that the Russian Cossacks played in the war and so much more.
The Verdict
Author Marina Osipova’s “The Drau River Flows to Siberia: The Victims of Victory” is a must-read novel, a genuinely harrowing, emotional, yet vital piece of historical fiction. The heartbreaking connection the two protagonists share and the honest style of writing that the author deploys will stay with readers long after the book ends.
This was such a compelling and heartfelt read. The author did an incredible job of drawing attention to a crucial yet rarely discussed part of WWII history: the impact of the war on the former Soviet Union and its citizens. The amount of detail the author can pour into this narrative and the emotional impact these characters and their journey have on the reader will leave a lasting impression on them.
The haunting realities the author painted with the imagery in their writing brought the horrors of war and the challenges many faced during this time. The savage nature of humanity during this time and how people were forced to endure and embrace resilience in the face of unimaginable horrors is a central theme of this story and the heart of these characters overall. The exploration of history as a whole was also remarkable, from the role and development of the Russian Gulag to the role that the Russian Cossacks played in the war and so much more.
The Verdict
Author Marina Osipova’s “The Drau River Flows to Siberia: The Victims of Victory” is a must-read novel, a genuinely harrowing, emotional, yet vital piece of historical fiction. The heartbreaking connection the two protagonists share and the honest style of writing that the author deploys will stay with readers long after the book ends.
February 4, 2025
Marina Osipova is one heck of a storyteller. As a result, I’m finding it difficult to find the words to describe the themes of the novel. Betrayal, displacement, endurance, love and finally freedom come to mind.
There are many stories from World War II. The Drau River Flows to Siberia: The Victims of Victory is a fascinating, gut-wrenching and for me, a unique tale about what happened during and after a war, set across Russia, Austria, Germany and Siberia. It’s an important piece of historical fiction that describes the journey of Anna and Zachary over two decades. The story unfolds slowly, as the author moves us back and forth across the years and locations of the protagonists, while they are working on a farm, in a hospital or in a Siberian gulag.
The descriptions of the secondary characters in the story, such as the family Anna stays with in Austria, are also beautifully described. I finished the novel and immediately started reading it again. A timely book that is likely to become a classic.
There are many stories from World War II. The Drau River Flows to Siberia: The Victims of Victory is a fascinating, gut-wrenching and for me, a unique tale about what happened during and after a war, set across Russia, Austria, Germany and Siberia. It’s an important piece of historical fiction that describes the journey of Anna and Zachary over two decades. The story unfolds slowly, as the author moves us back and forth across the years and locations of the protagonists, while they are working on a farm, in a hospital or in a Siberian gulag.
The descriptions of the secondary characters in the story, such as the family Anna stays with in Austria, are also beautifully described. I finished the novel and immediately started reading it again. A timely book that is likely to become a classic.
May 4, 2024
“The Victims of Victory” takes place and is based on true events during WWII. The story introduces Anna in 1955 Siberia who happens across a familiar good Samaritan intent to hear her story. Anna’s story starts in 1941, at age 16, aspiring against her family’s wishes to pursue a career as an operetta actress.
Overall, I found this to be a well-written and researched book. This historical fiction is told through two POVs- Anna’s (as she shares her story with Zakhary) and Zakhary’s (as he flashes back on his past events). The content and time period of the story insinuate that this will not be a light and lovely tale and the author does not deviate from this expectation. The story is dark and the worst imaginable things happen at the hands of people who seemingly thrive on the misery of others. Find the full blog post and author interview at heatherlbarksdale.com
I received a copy of this story in exchange of a fair and honest review.
Overall, I found this to be a well-written and researched book. This historical fiction is told through two POVs- Anna’s (as she shares her story with Zakhary) and Zakhary’s (as he flashes back on his past events). The content and time period of the story insinuate that this will not be a light and lovely tale and the author does not deviate from this expectation. The story is dark and the worst imaginable things happen at the hands of people who seemingly thrive on the misery of others. Find the full blog post and author interview at heatherlbarksdale.com
I received a copy of this story in exchange of a fair and honest review.
October 16, 2023
Marina Osipova has once again brought to life little-known aspects of WWII Soviet history in an emotionally moving and human story that takes us on a long and tragic journey from Nazi-occupied Austria to the gulags of Siberia. Her research is impeccable and I always learn something new, which is what I particularly enjoy in a WWII book. The journey that each of the main characters takes - Anna and Zakhary - especially after WWII ended, only serves to show the aftermath of the war, and how, in the Soviet Union, it was a nightmare for those deemed by Stalin to be on the wrong side. As is often the case, Western history of WWII glorifies the achievements, but we know little about the decisions at the Yalta Conference and of the disastrous fate of so many that were decided by so few and kept secret for so long. This book is highly recommended.
March 7, 2024
Like Timothy Snyder's "Bloodlands," this is an important work -- but not an easy read. Where Synder provides statistics and a strategic overview of events, Osipova looks at the human impact of the clash between Hitler and Stalin. She traces the fate of two innocent people crushed under the forces of history. Osipova does not sugar-coat or shy away from the appalling inhumanity of both regimes. Indeed, the fate of her victims highlights the immensity of their cruelty. Yet to minimize or forget the fate of millions like her two protagonists is to risk repetition -- a terrifyingly real possibility in today's world. This book ought to be required reading in every school.
October 25, 2023
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest river.
To me this was an account of a little known result of the Yalta Conference and its effects on the Russian people and their being handed over to the Soviet authorities for imprisonment. The story of Zakhary and Anna is a compelling one, and hard to believe that the perceived peace of the ending of WWII had such far-flung consequences. Well written historical fiction.
To me this was an account of a little known result of the Yalta Conference and its effects on the Russian people and their being handed over to the Soviet authorities for imprisonment. The story of Zakhary and Anna is a compelling one, and hard to believe that the perceived peace of the ending of WWII had such far-flung consequences. Well written historical fiction.
August 14, 2024
The Victims of Victory, by Marina Osipova, is an epic story - brutal in its vivid portrayal of life during wartime Europe and its aftermath in Russia. The author presents a truly heart-wrenching story that depicts, with no details withheld, the story of two main characters, each of them caught in the spider's web of slave and prisoner of war settings. The author's words compel irrevocable feelings as we follow Anna and Zachary, as they endure the reality and hardships of their slavish lives. One feels their pain, the torment they experience on every page. Moreover, and probably more profound than anything, is the constant thread of hope which draws both of them down very dark roads. They never give up and despite the cruelty and torture at the hands of their captures, that flicker of light, the barest thread of longing to be free and to find their loved ones years after the war has ended, is never quenched. This is a story which is hard to erase from one's mind because it reminds us of the sheer savagery and barbarity of war and oppressive ideology which spurred a Nazi regime into existence and a Russian state of oppression. Read it - it is an inspiring story about the irrepressible human soul.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews