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Thursday, August 29, 2024

Coming Out of the Ice by Victor Herman

In 1931, a young American named Victor Herman accompanied his parents to the Soviet Union, where his father was to set up a Ford Motor Company plant. 

In 1938, he was inexplicably thrown into a Soviet prison.

 It was forty-five years before he was able to return to America. His was a common nightmare during the Stalin years. Those who survived imprisonment and torture were either sent north to hard labor in the icy forests and mines or into exile. Victor Herman was one of the few who survived. 

During his life in and out of Russian prisons, he fell in love with a Russian gymnast, who followed him into exile. She lived with him and their child for a year in Siberia in a cave chopped out of ice. Theirs was a romance destined to thrive even under desperate conditions.

Audiobook, 13 hrs and 48 mins
Published October 1, 2007 
by Blackstone Audiobooks
5/5 stars

The blurb on the print copy starts by saying this is an astonishing true story, I can think of other words to use instead, like heartbreaking, unbelievable and even cruel.

To be honest there are not words to describe this story. I went in listening to the audiobook, the reader was stellar, he brought the story to life.

Victor Herman is in his teens when his parents or rather his father decides to work for the Ford Motor Company in Russia, the year is 1931. Just knowing that part one can already feel the tension. Things don’t go as planned, in 1938 Victor is thrown in prison, this is a Russian prison with Siberia on the horizon,

Coming Out Of The Ice is a story of resilience, heartache, and injustice. It's a story of determination and sacrifice. Just by reading the blurb it wasn’t hard to visualize what would take place.

After listening to Victor's story, I think it's an injustice that Victor Herman is not more widely known and his story as he struggles to get back to his birthplace of Detroit Michigan. Yes, he is a US citizen.

This audio from free on Audible through member exclusives.

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