Etched in My Memory: Stories from Life of a Former Soviet Invalid of the Fifth Line

by Sol Tetelbaum

Many books have been written about Soviet Russia. Most of them are historic or depict pieces of a person's life in extreme situations. In this book, Sol Tetelbaum describes his everyday life in Soviet Russia as it was, with relevant details, and some phenomena and events that had the greatest impact upon him. Actually the author devoted to his life in the former Soviet Union two books of his memoirs. The first book, "Family Matters and More: Stories of My Life in Soviet Russia" tells mostly about members of his family and the most important family events. The second book, titled "Etched in My Memory: Stories from Life of a Former Soviet Invalid of the Fifth Line" is also a part of the author's recollections about his life in the former USSR. The book continues description of the author's life under Soviet regime, but this time the book tells about the Author's life outside of personal and family affairs and covers roughly the same period of time as the first book. However, unlike the first book, this one narrates with more details about the author's professional life, about his fight for the professional higher education, and for realization of his dream. It tells about the Author's endless and desperate struggle for fairness in the Soviet mendacious inhuman system in which he was forced to live. A thought keeps coming to the Author's mind: Some people who miraculously survived the concentration camps are still alive, but now we can see the revival of the same things that not long ago led to the tragedy of the Holocaust. The only way to stop tragedies from happening again is not letting people forget their tragic experiences of the past. For this reason, the Author feels obligated to share his story. The author lived an active life, met both good and bad people, witnessed disgusting, ugly, and tragic events and experienced a lot of hardship and unfairness. He believes that it is important for all readers of all generations to understand why, at an age over fifty, he made up his mind and left the country of his birth. Reading details of the Soviet life, the readers will learn things that they hardly would be able to find in other books.

240 pages, Paperback

First published April 21, 2014

About the author

Solomon (Sol) Tetelbaum, a Research Engineer in Nuclear Engineering, was born in the city of Odessa, Ukraine (formerly USSR) where He lived for over 50 years. After earning his PhD degree, he managed a research sector and became an associate professor. In 1989, he entered the USA under refugee status. His first book was published in 2007; his second book was published in 2009. Both books were written in English which he started to learn coming to the USA in 1989 when he was well over 50.

Reviews

[RYCJ]

The Good was the overall account and its organized, timely delivery. Sol’s struggle for human rights… to receive an equitable education, his research and work and travels within Socialist countries, his priorities on family and encounters with peers, demigods, and adversaries alike, cogently mesh with the concepts he reveals of Soviet governance during his trials and tribulations.

The Mmeh Okay were the concepts revealed of Soviet governance so much resembling a basic means of everywhere in the world. It may seem like a woolgathering abstracted misnomer to deduce “everywhere”, but it would be quite enlightening to learn of one country where not one group, of any color, religion, nationality, or persuasion is not ‘systematically’ discriminated against by similar conduits. This is not to infer that this should be expected, or acceptable. It's just that while names and locations may be unfamiliar, the premise of the accounts are not.

The Best Part more so, was being fascinated by Sol’s ability to self-teach himself, in geothermal energy disciplines of all fields, and not be brainwashed while conjointly processing and memorizing such studies as the Marxist-Leninist philosophies, just to pass exams. The many quotes was another treat; “If you are the boss, then I am a fool” or “If I am the boss, you are a fool,” and as well the humor Sol managed to press between his hardships gives me great cause to applaud this highly-regarded, well-written memoir.

[Marlene]

I read this some time ago but never got it put into Goodreads. An excellent personal story by a Russian Jew who grew up in Soviet Russia and decided to leave when he was 50 years old, when Gorbachev opened up the country. It was a difficult decision as he did not know the language and felt he might be too old to begin anew. He writes about his life in Russia and what it was like for him being a Jew. He writes of the discrimination he endured and how it kept him from being the medical doctor he wanted to be. Instead, he became an engineer. Given the current climate with Russia, I think this account is even more interesting and pertinent than it was when he wrote it. Sol is not a professional author. It is his own story written from his heart. I recommend reading it.

[Marie]

Being a child of the Cold War, I have always been curious about the Soviet Union and all the things I had heard about living there. It was enlightening to hear a first person account of the actual goings on during that time. While the author is more my father's age than mine, i found the book very interesting and read it in about a day. Would recommend to others interested in this subject.