This is a continuation of my reading of Victor Herman’s book, Coming Out Of The Ice, An Unexpected Life, out of print for some time. Just a reminder of why I am doing this. I consider this book to be extremely important, because it is a glimpse into what we can expect if we do not resist the oncoming tyranny. Victor Herman, in discussing his experiences in the Soviet gulag emphasized: “Don’t think it can’t happen here.” And, it is now happening here.
The series begins here.
In this chapter Victor is transported to Fosforitnaya, where he experienced the phosphorus mines. This is where people were sent to die.
This is a more current image of the village of Fosforitnaya, which is now unoccupied.
Victor’s book was published in 1979, and the made-for-TV movie was broadcast in 1982. This chapter reminds me of another movie released just two years later, in 1984, while the Soviet Union still existed.
In discussing the starvation Victor experienced in Fosforitnaya,
I go with my daughters, here in Detroit I go with them to the markets, and I am made dizzy and breathless by the array that leaps from shelf to shelf. It is like a cataract drowning me in a delirium of succulences, and my eyes see bags of crackers running with juices.
In Moscow On The Hudson, starring Robin Williams, Williams character, Vladimir Ivanoff, has defected from the Soviet Union to the United States. In one scene he enters a grocery store, and he is so overcome by the abundance and variety that he faints out cold onto the floor.
Art imitates life?
Of course, unlike Victor, Vladimir did not come from a phosphorus mine which caused him to cough up blood.
The experience of starvation is not hypothetical. Already certain cities around the world are planning and implementing policies to restrict our dietary choices and our caloric intake - To save the planet, of course. If this is new to you, check out C40 cities.
The reading is here. As always, I hope you appreciate Victor’s words.