ABSTRACT
Taissia was, with the possible exception of Roman, the least religious member of the Shcherbak family. Although raised by her parents in an atmosphere of old-fashioned piety and devotion, later to be reinforced by the arrival of the devout Irina in their household, she seemed to have had all of this knocked out of her by her progressive boarding-school in Rostov. The entire region, and indeed most of the Caucasus, was for the time being firmly in the hands of the Whites. Zakhar and Evdokia left Maria’s house to return to their estate near Armavir, while Taissia and the infant Solzhenitsyn moved in with Maria to take their place. In the winter of 1920, like everyone else, they had virtually starved, selling off their furniture and possessions at derisory prices to buy food. The infant Solzhenitsyn was presumably secure and oblivious of these hardships.
