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Ludwik Kowalski
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Hell On Earth: Brutality And Violence Under The Stalinist Regime (English Edition) Kindle Edition

English edition by Ludwik Kowalski (Autor) Format: Kindle Edition
3.6 3.6 out of 5 stars 202 ratings
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The author's father, a civil engineer, left Poland for the Soviet Union in 1931. An idealistic communist, he believed it was his duty to emigrate, and to contribute to the building of a new society. His wife and his infant son followed soon after. In 1938 he was arrested and sent to a Gulag camp in Kolyma, where he became a slave in Stalin's state of proletarian dictatorship, and died two years later at the age of 36.
The author, a retired physics professor, shares what he knows and thinks about Stalinism. Educated in the Soviet Union (elementary school), in Poland (high school and master's degree) and in France (Ph.D. in nuclear physics), he came to the United States in 1964. He deliberately avoided talking about Stalinism and concentrated on teaching and research.
Approaching retirement, however, he wrote an essay on Stalinism, entitled "Alaska Notes." It describes the gruesome Soviet reality, focusing on Kolyma, where his father died. That essay was posted at the internet discussion list at Montclair State University. The lively discussion that followed, mostly among professors, convinced the author to transform the essay into this book.
It also convinced him to write “Diary of a Former Communist: Thoughts, Feelings, Reality.” The second book--his autobiography--is based on a diary kept between 1946 and 2004 in the USSR, Poland, France and the USA. It traces his ideological evolution from one extreme to another--from a devoted Stalinist as a student in Poland, to an active anticommunist after retiring. Writing these two books was a moral obligation to his parents, to millions of other victims of Stalinism, and to Poland. The diaries on which the second book is based, written mostly in Polish, are preserved in Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace, at Stanford University.
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  1. Print length
    140 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    11 Dec. 2011
  4. File size
    303 KB
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  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B006L4K7WA
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Ludwik Kowalski (11 Dec. 2011)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 303 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 140 pages
  • Customer reviews:
    3.6 3.6 out of 5 stars 202 ratings

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Ludwik Kowalski

Ludwik Kowalski

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Ludwik Kowalski turned 80 in October 2011. Born in Poland, educated in the USSR, Poland and France, he came to the USA in 1964 with a doctorate (Sorbonne) in nuclear physics. After his first four years as a postdoc at Columbia University, he became a professor at Montclair State University. He is the author and co-author of well over one hundred publications and conference presentation (see Wikipedia). Ludwik and his wife Linda--they were married in 1967--live in Fort Lee, New Jersey. They have one daughter and one granddaughter.

Ludwik’s father, a civil engineer in Poland, left for the Soviet Union in 1931. An idealistic communist, he believed it was his duty to emigrate, and to contribute to the building of a new society. In 1938 he was arrested and sent to a Gulag camp, where he died two years later, at the age of 36. This did not prevent the young Ludwik from becoming a dedicated Stalinist and a communist party member after returning to Poland. Two of his books, "Hell on Earth,” published in 2008, based on numerous references, and "Tyranny to Freedom,” published in 2009, based on diaries written in Poland, France, and the United States. are devoted to reflections on communist ideology. The first book describes facts with which young Americans are not always familiar; the second traces Ludwik’s evolution from one extreme to another, from a devoted communist to an active anti-communist.

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  • Colin Boardman
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Read
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 17 March 2023
    Verified Purchase
    I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Soviet political history, Stalinism and the effects of communism upon Soviet Russia
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  • Kenneth J. Thynes
    5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best books I have ever read, and I read extensively.
    Reviewed in the United States on 25 September 2020
    Verified Purchase
    This book is a fantastic book which gives the reader a very accurate understanding of how completely demoralizing a socialist society, government, and culture “is”. This book is a tough read in that what is revealed is so vivid, accurate, raw, and factual that the reader, if digesting what they read, is so intense, that the reading must progress in “sessions” in order to be able to grasp with some measure of peace of heart and mind. What the author reveals is in many ways is “frightening” and raw.
    It is a fantastic book, the author does an excellent work.
    I highly recommend this book to healthy, mature, readers.
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  • matt
    3.0 out of 5 stars More a set of research notes
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 18 April 2017
    Verified Purchase
    I thought this would be more of an auto-bio of the author's father's experience in Kolyma - but it is largely a book of figures and theory - also, TERRIBLE FORMATTING
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  • RGraves
    4.0 out of 5 stars interesting history of communist Russia.
    Reviewed in the United States on 6 June 2014
    Verified Purchase
    Mr. Kowalski gives a very good short history on the brutality of Stalin and his regime. He provides a lot of good information that leaves you wanting to study further.
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  • Kindle Customer tish geraghty. As a college lecturer I taught nursery- high scool in previous yearss
    5.0 out of 5 stars Russia todayi
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 13 August 2017
    Verified Purchase
    Interesting, intellectually satisfying work .I would have liked more on rise of the Russian plutocrats now owning English football clubs ,media,etc! I visited Russia twice 1967, Poland1966/7, Hungary 1978, when all under Soviet rule .The Hungarians said there was no difference in living under both Fascist Germany and Soviet Communism occupation!
    Report

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