This thrilling memoir documents the early life of Russian journalist and human rights activist Alexander Podrabinek as he and other dissidents fearlessly fought against the Soviet Union.
Between Prison and Freedom chronicles Alexander Podrabinek's deeply personal recollections of his early life fearlessly opposing the injustices of the Soviet Union. He vividly describes his turbulent journey from silently protesting at Pushkin Square as a teenager to his exile in a brutal prison camp for publishing Punitive Medicine. Between Prison and Freedom is a powerful tribute to the Russian dissidents, desperately loyal to their country and to each other, as they fought for freedom and justice, all while cunningly evading the KGB's nearly successful efforts to break—or kill—them.
Through his personal experiences, the dissident reality unfolds as an onslaught of surveillance and false accusations, corrective labor camps and exile, and a consistent disregard for basic human freedoms. In this captivating story about standing against tyranny, Podrabinek captures the spirit of the dissident movement, the painful intersections between personal and political in a dissident's life, and the solidarity that kept the resistance moving forward.
Table of Contents:
Part 1.
1. How to Quit Smoking and Start Writing Your Memoirs
2. Childhood
3. Pushkin Square
4. Elektrostal
5. Moscow
6. A Man of Freedom
7.The Moscow Day-to-Day
8. Three Comrades
9. Ladies from the Last Century
10. The Writing Itch
11. Impatience
12. From Illusions to Reality
13. Psychiatry: First Steps
14. Do You Recognize Your Brother Sasha?"
15. 1977. Tallin. New Year's
16. The Belyaevsky Triangle
17. Our Answer to Chamberlain
18. Journey to Siberia
19. The Empire Strikes Back
20. West--East
21. Cherchez la femme
22. Dress Rehearsal
23. Farewell to Arms!
24. The Art of the Interrogation
25. Correspondents and Diplomats
26. "Ambulance"
27. In the KGB's Cross-Hairs
28. No One Wanted to Leave
29. "Tailed"
30. First Test
31. Hostages
32. Moment of Weakness
33. Our Man in the KGB
34. The Working Commission
35. My Last Few Days
Part 2.
36. Matrosskaya Tishina
37. Young Children
38. Investigation Trial
39. Krasnaya Presnya
40. Long-Distance Journey
41. Chuna
42. Barmakon
43. Honeymoon
44. The Pole of Cold
45. Yakutia Prison
46. Death Row
47. Idiotic Investigation
48. Eros Watches/Wide-Awake
49. Difficulties of Legal/Judicial Proceedings
50. Once Again, a Trial
51. Bolshaya Markha
52. Labor Is a Matter of Honor, Courage, and Heroism
53. A Prison Within a Prison
54. Criminals
55. "Only on the Green"
56. Rock-busting
57. Solitude Hunger
58. Cold Dreams
59. Another Moment of Weakness
60. Stooges
61. Tuberculosis
62. The Infirmary
63. Driven from Paradise
64. Pleasant Prison Camp Life
65. Final Round
66. Ode to the Quilted Vest/Jacket
67. Tempted by Freedom
