Man Is Wolf to Man: Surviving the Gulag by Janusz Bardach (PDF)

Description

FROM THE BOOK:”The pit I was ordered to dig had the precise dimensions of a casket. The NKVD officer carefully designed it. He measured my size with a stick, made lines on the forest floor, and told me to dig. He wanted to make sure I’d fit well inside.”In 1941 Janusz Bardach’s death sentence was commuted to ten years’ hard labor and he was sent to Kolyma―the harshest, coldest, and most deadly prison in Joseph Stalin’s labor camp system―the Siberia of Siberias. The only English-language memoir since the fall of communism to chronicle the atrocities committed during the Stalinist regime, Bardach’s gripping testimony explores the darkest corners of the human condition at the same time that it documents the tyranny of Stalin’s reign, equal only to that of Hitler. With breathtaking immediacy, a riveting eye for detail, and a humanity that permeates the events and landscapes he describes, Bardach recounts the extraordinary story of this nearly inconceivable world.The story begins with the Nazi occupation when Bardach, a young Polish Jew inspired by Soviet Communism, crosses the border of Poland to join the ranks of the Red Army. His ideals are quickly shattered when he is arrested, court-martialed, and sentenced to death. How Bardach survives an endless barrage of brutality―from a near-fatal beating to the harsh conditions and slow starvation of the gulag existence―is a testament to human endurance under the most oppressive circumstances. Besides being of great historical significance, Bardach’s narrative is a celebration of life and a vital affirmation of what it means to be human.

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: Review “A gripping but matter-of-fact memoir. . . . A fascinating history, this compelling memoir is also a story of inner resolve and the will to keep going. It’s a worthy companion to such accounts as Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s “The Gulag Archipelago and Natalya Ginzburg’s “Journey into the Whirlwind.”–“Publishers Weekly [starred review] From the Inside Flap “An enthralling record of often dreadful experiences in what Solzhenitsyn has called ‘the pole of cold and cruelty’ of Stalin’s labor camp system: a saga of human endurance.”–Robert Conquest”An extraordinary story of human brutality, human kindness, and human ability to survive under the most inhuman conditions imaginable. It should demonstrate to anyone who still entertains illusions about Soviet Communism how closely it resembled Nazism.”–Richard Pipes”Beneath the layers of history and the ideological divisions, Man Is Wolf to Man is a glorious testimony to the resilience of the human spirit and a celebration of the tragic improvisations which are sometimes required to save a human life. After several generations, J. Bardach has opened another window into the tragic world first explored by A. Koestler in Darkness at Noon. This is a worthy and affirmative book.”–James A. McPherson”Being spellbound by Dr. Bardach’s vivid and richly detailed recollections, you become a fellow companion of a Jewish youth from Poland in his head-spinning odyssey across eight time-zones eastward with the Kolyma gold mines as the final destination. Through Bardach’s experiences, one understands the feelings of countless other victims of history who found themselves between a rock and a hard place, as the relentless and senseless forces drove them from the Nazi gas chambers into the killing fields of Communism.”–Vassily Aksyonov From the Back Cover “An enthralling record of often dreadful experiences in what Solzhenitsyn has called ‘the pole of cold and cruelty’ of Stalin’s labor camp system: a saga of human endurance.”―Robert Conquest”An extraordinary story of human brutality, human kindness, and human ability to survive under the most inhuman conditions imaginable. It should demonstrate to anyone who still entertains illusions about Soviet Communism how closely it resembled Nazism.”―Richard Pipes”Beneath the layers of history and the ideological divisions, Man Is Wolf to Man is a glorious testimony to the resilience of the human spirit and a celebration of the tragic improvisations which are sometimes required to save a human life. After several generations, J. Bardach has opened another window into the tragic world first explored by A. Koestler in Darkness at Noon. This is a worthy and affirmative book.”―James A. McPherson”Being spellbound by Dr. Bardach’s vivid and richly detailed recollections, you become a fellow companion of a Jewish youth from Poland in his head-spinning odyssey across eight time-zones eastward with the Kolyma gold mines as the final destination. Through Bardach’s experiences, one understands the feelings of countless other victims of history who found themselves between a rock and a hard place, as the relentless and senseless forces drove them from the Nazi gas chambers into the killing fields of Communism.”―Vassily Aksyonov About the Author Janusz Bardach is a world-renowned plastic and reconstructive surgeon. He lives in Iowa City with his family. Kathleen Gleeson is a graduate of the University of Iowa’s Nonfiction Writing Program and also lives in Iowa City. Adam Hochschild is the author of King Leopold’s Ghost. Read more

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐This book kept my attention for all of it’s 400+ pages and it one of the best I’ve read in recent memory. The account of Janusz Bardach is equal parts adventure and horror. The brutality of Communism is on display in graphic detail as Janusz transforms from a Communist idealist to a broken realist when exposed to the truth of Communism over it’s theoretical ideals. This book has love, prison escapes, political and social philosophy, extreme brutality, suffering, and even black market reindeer blood (seriously). If you love WWII history, adventure, and real life stories of survival, please pick this book up.Memorable Points:- the realization of how quickly educated, hard working, honest families were massacred by both the Nazis and the Soviets.- the difference between political theory and reality and the importance of understanding how our ideas actually play out in the real world.- the escape from the prison transport.- the extreme use of fear as a weapon in Communist society.- the attack on female prisoners on the ship to Kolyma stuck with me due to the brutality.- the commutation of Janusz’s death sentence from a “chance” encounter with an officer who knew his family.- the missed opportunity to escape after turning over the tank.- the strained relationship between Janusz and his brother Julek.- Janusz’s return to Wlodzimierz-Wolynski after his release.- the revelation of his family’s fate. The book tells it swiftly and without much fanfare. I think it translated the pain Janusz must’ve felt very explicitly.

⭐This is an extraordinary book for several reasons. It torments us with calm descriptions of terrible events, challenges us metaphysically by covertly asking how we might retain our own dignity in the same instances, and still manages to leave us a sense of hope and encouragement that someone could have survived such depravities and remain a sensate human.Americans have never really appreciated the horrors visited upon the Soviet people by Lenin and completed by Stalin and Beria. Is twenty million dead an accurate number? How about thirty? The numbers are impossible for the mind to register. Dr. Bardach brings one of these experiences vividly into the reader’s frame of references. I wondered several times during my reading, with an awful feeling of foreboding terror, whether it could ever happen here.Dr. Bardack’s book is more than simply shocking. I am perfectly convinced that the author, by simple use of understatement, refrained from amplifying his personal set of horrors. His use of contrasting descriptions of beautiful scenes while on route-beaches, forests, mountain steppes-forces us to carefully reassess how men of reason could generate such hostility.This book is not light reading, yet it is difficult to put down. The writing style is excellent and is a pleasure-if one can describe terror as “pleasure.” It is a forceful commentary, an unique historical document, and Dr. Bardach should be congratulated for his willingness to relive and present it to us.

⭐I thought I knew Janusz, I met him in Iowa City. He got my Mom to do Luksusowa Vodka “shooters” when the hardest stuff she ever drank was a glass of wine. They then proceeded to have a conversation in Ukrainian. He was one of the most positive souls I have ever met. He did cleft palate surgeries for kids all over the world. I remember being in his kitchen with my brother when he walked in proclaiming that “Phyllis dropped the ball” by leaving the Lukisuowa out of the freezer. He them made us do shooters as well. His wife Phyllis was an educator of the deaf and also an amazing soul. This book tells the story of how low the world can take you and how how high someone can climb. Inspirational. This book made me really know him.

⭐What a very gifted author this wonderful Jewish man was…Truly one of Gods’ Chosen people…he tried so very hard to still stay nice in a den of iniquity if there ever was one..he was numerous time half killed by the merciless satanic communists while unjustly sent 14,000 miles from his home as a young man, to Siberia, no mans’ land…this book will truly jhold your interest, I’m not much of a reviewer, but just wanted to assure my fellow book lovers, this is a KEEPER!!!

⭐This is a great, personal introduction to one of the last century’s most terrible creations: Stalin’s gulags, where millions were imprisoned and died. Unlike more general account, including Solzhenitsyn’s masterpiece, this book makes the terror personal.

⭐This book should be required reading for every man, woman, and child in America, especially those who weren’t around during World War II time.

⭐What a story! Boggles ones mind what man must go through in order to survive! I’ve read other books where former soldiers were sent to Lead Mines then escapes on epic journeys… But what this poor bugger went through and survived is, well it’s hard to put my feeling in print. What’s even more mind blowing is that he learned the beginnings of his future trade/profession in the camps. With Russian mentality it amazes me they ever defeated the Germans, shipping able bodied men off to camps in the vast wilderness on trumped up charges. It’s worth reading, bet you can’t put it down, a real story of human endurance. MG

⭐Dr. Bardach account of the adversity he faced and perservance has been very inspiring to me. Based upon his account I can now easly understand the compassion he demonstrated towards me during my lengthy hospital stay during my recovery from reconstructive surgery. Even though I was unable to speak for ten days. He stopped by my room each day taking time to hold my hand or touch my shoulder giving me encouragement that things would improve. He is the kindest and most skilled surgeon I have ever encountered.

⭐Facinating. A really good read.

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