The Cellar - View Single Post - the girl with x-ray vision

FileNotFound · 02-09-2004, 11:42 AM

Undertoad, in a sense, not as much as by all the people that have left Russia.

I would say that about 30% of university grads in Russia leave the country within 10 years.

My parents left and got green cards based on their scientific achievments and that much of it delt with chemical weapons. Both have PhDs and my father has 3 published books and over 100 articles, most in US journals.

Pretty much everyone my parents knew in college is no longer in Russia. So far they have 3 friends in US, 2 in UK, 1 in France, 1 in Germany, 3 in Australia and 2 in Canada.

It's hard for me to say if Stalin had a huge effect on Russia. I know he didn't have 'much' effect on our family, but only because my family fled to Siberia.

After the communists took over, my mothers side of the family decieded to flee to asia, fairly sure we had some friends there or something. Didn't quite make it because my great grandmother was pregnant and ended up giving birth in Siberia thus got stuck there. They wanted to flee because my great grandmother was working for the royals in some form and felt that they'd be executed like many others if caught, to make it worse my great grandfather owned a jewlery store and that alone classified them as "kulaks" (as in the wealthy "haves" who do not share with the working man). So one night they just packed up whatever small and most expensive jewlery they had and ran for it.

In siberia they purchased a big house assuming that they'd be safe from the communists. When ww2 came so did the communists. They raided the house, took what they could find (food, money, clothing), scared my grandfather who was only several years old at the time so much that he still studders. They took away the large house because it was "too large for a family" forcing them to live in a much smaller house with poor heating.

As far as I know the war claimed about 3 lives from my mother side. One was a tank mechanic, he went missing (there were rumors of him trying to join the Germans as he prefered them to the communists, not sure which side he died on or if he died at all), one was a simple soldier and was shot. The other got shot by the Russian soldiers when he got in an argument about them comming by their house yet again to 'redistribute' food.

My father's side is less detailed, I do not know anything about their history before the communists came; all I know is that my greatgrand father was a truck driver for the army and delived supplies to the front lines. While he didn't die in the war, he had a bullet in his chest that the doctors were not able to remove, he died in his 60s due to it(it was very close to the heart and was causing some swelling or something).

Thats that as far as communism and my family. Although, I think it's worth mentioning that while in Russia, my parents, both with PhDs and "precitigious" jobs in the science field could not put enough food on the table to feed themselves and me, nor could they buy colothing or food. Socks, pants, underwear, was all getting torn and stiched back together. A scientist would make about 300 rubels a week while a bus driver would make 100/day and then another 200/day because he'd keep the money from the fares.

Oh and on treatment of women in the workplace, my mother was flat out told by her 53 year old manager that she'd not able able to advance in her field unless she slept with him, she never did advance. But then we left Russia not too long after so screw that. (Oh and that same manager then began to use the lab, and the staff to produce some very toxic chemicals for some company in Turkey)

What I'm trying to say is that sure Stalin may have been an impact, but even without him, the country was fucked.

02-09-2004, 11:42 AM	#9
FileNotFound Intouch with his inner sheep rider. Join Date: Nov 2003 Posts: 603	Undertoad, in a sense, not as much as by all the people that have left Russia. I would say that about 30% of university grads in Russia leave the country within 10 years. My parents left and got green cards based on their scientific achievments and that much of it delt with chemical weapons. Both have PhDs and my father has 3 published books and over 100 articles, most in US journals. Pretty much everyone my parents knew in college is no longer in Russia. So far they have 3 friends in US, 2 in UK, 1 in France, 1 in Germany, 3 in Australia and 2 in Canada. It's hard for me to say if Stalin had a huge effect on Russia. I know he didn't have 'much' effect on our family, but only because my family fled to Siberia. After the communists took over, my mothers side of the family decieded to flee to asia, fairly sure we had some friends there or something. Didn't quite make it because my great grandmother was pregnant and ended up giving birth in Siberia thus got stuck there. They wanted to flee because my great grandmother was working for the royals in some form and felt that they'd be executed like many others if caught, to make it worse my great grandfather owned a jewlery store and that alone classified them as "kulaks" (as in the wealthy "haves" who do not share with the working man). So one night they just packed up whatever small and most expensive jewlery they had and ran for it. In siberia they purchased a big house assuming that they'd be safe from the communists. When ww2 came so did the communists. They raided the house, took what they could find (food, money, clothing), scared my grandfather who was only several years old at the time so much that he still studders. They took away the large house because it was "too large for a family" forcing them to live in a much smaller house with poor heating. As far as I know the war claimed about 3 lives from my mother side. One was a tank mechanic, he went missing (there were rumors of him trying to join the Germans as he prefered them to the communists, not sure which side he died on or if he died at all), one was a simple soldier and was shot. The other got shot by the Russian soldiers when he got in an argument about them comming by their house yet again to 'redistribute' food. My father's side is less detailed, I do not know anything about their history before the communists came; all I know is that my greatgrand father was a truck driver for the army and delived supplies to the front lines. While he didn't die in the war, he had a bullet in his chest that the doctors were not able to remove, he died in his 60s due to it(it was very close to the heart and was causing some swelling or something). Thats that as far as communism and my family. Although, I think it's worth mentioning that while in Russia, my parents, both with PhDs and "precitigious" jobs in the science field could not put enough food on the table to feed themselves and me, nor could they buy colothing or food. Socks, pants, underwear, was all getting torn and stiched back together. A scientist would make about 300 rubels a week while a bus driver would make 100/day and then another 200/day because he'd keep the money from the fares. Oh and on treatment of women in the workplace, my mother was flat out told by her 53 year old manager that she'd not able able to advance in her field unless she slept with him, she never did advance. But then we left Russia not too long after so screw that. (Oh and that same manager then began to use the lab, and the staff to produce some very toxic chemicals for some company in Turkey) What I'm trying to say is that sure Stalin may have been an impact, but even without him, the country was fucked. __________________ This is a rat. \|This is a hamster.\| This is a chipmunk.\| This is a Sheep Rider.