ABSTRACT
A former young communist with a Jewish background, Regina Litynska was jailed before the War for her political activities. In Regina’s progress towards her eventual renunciation of communism one sees the repeatedly shattered hopes of a society that was promised change, reform and hope as successive first secretaries were sacked, in ritual disgrace as a panacea for ills that would only be cured by the abolition of the system. Regina’s dream had been to go to medical college but a combination of a quota system which limited the number of Jewish people allowed enters certain schools at the university and the sheer impossibility of finding the money for the fees ensured that Regina’s dream remained just that. The journey to Kazakstan took over a month and Regina remembers that their transport was a train meant for livestock. The essence of the movement which Regina found herself passively supporting was its determination to function openly.
