A literate and beautifully written account of a Jewish girl growing up in Stalin's Russia and Castro's Cuba. Her creative approach to the problems of survival and achievement under rigid dictatorships is an example of women's determination and achievement, if and when they take themselves seriously and pursue their objectives with conviction.
Paulina's personal crisis came after a violent rape attempt by her Soviet supervisor at work. This moment became a powerful motivator to overcome obstacles and demonstrated the power and potential of the human spirit. Finding herself embroiled in a Cold War drama on the Island of Cuba where Soviet and American military forces are vying for supremacy during a secret nuclear confrontation, Paulina decided on a dangerous escape to freedom with her two small children rather than become an obedient slave and an informant for a cruel and rogue tyrannical state. When in 1970 the KGB attempted to conscript Paulina as an informant, she defected with her two young children to Canada in a bizarre feat of courage and audacity. This episode is sure to elevate your heart rate. Who said that women are the weaker sex?
She enacted the assertion of "I am mad as hell, and I am not going to take it anymore" and despite the long odds, succeeded. She became the only defector from a communist country that made such an escape with small children in Gander, Newfoundland, Canada. A seemingly discouraging and difficult situation for a young, penniless immigrant with two small children did not prevent Paulina from rapidly adjusting to a new country. She re-established herself professionally and even brought her parents to Canada 4 years later. Paulina's family proudly integrated into Canadian society. Her boys graduated from Canadian universities as scientists. They became confident, responsible, and independent individuals in the entrepreneurial hi-tech sector. Paulina's memoir provides a highly motivational reading for young girls who are considering a professional career.
It is remarkable how this first-hand story of a young female Soviet defector is relevant to the current global situation regarding the Russian Navy, which replaced the Soviet Navy with the obsessive aim of nuclear dominance in the Atlantic ocean, as well as in the Arctic.
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Paul Weinzweig grew up in Toronto, Canada, where he earned a PhD in sociology from the University of Toronto and went on to do volunteer research work in West Africa at a community mental health project. He has taught in the social sciences at several Canadian universities and helped to pioneer and present televised distance education. Paul served as Associate Director of the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations where he managed negotiations between university teachers and the new provincial distance education authority (TV Ontario) that laid the ground rules for the participation of university teachers in the new electronic educational media. Paul has conducted research in many areas including private school education, the role of international nongovernmental organizations in peace and disarmament, the plight of Canada’s indigenous peoples migrating from rural to urban areas, and cultural programming for Toronto’s Harborfront development.