3 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
It can sometimes be a challenge to do justice to the fullness and complexity of an individual’s life when committing that life to the page. When the person about whom a story is written is a larger-than-life character, the challenge becomes even more pronounced. In Letters from the Box in the Attic, Barbara Serbinski Sipe masterfully captured the strong and vibrant personality of her Polish mother, Stanislawa Serbinski, otherwise known as Emma, and the essence of her fascinating life.
We first meet Emma in her later years, as her daughter describes her lifestyle following the death of her husband. Residing in rural Pennsylvania, and rarely leaving her home state due to trauma from her experiences in World War II, Emma is nonetheless an active and well-known member of her community. Though she and her daughter Barbara, the author of this book, share a close relationship, it is only after Emma’s death that Barbara discovers a box of letters and other memorabilia saved from Emma’s younger years in Poland, and the years following the German and Soviet invasion of her birthplace. The letters tell the story of what happened to Emma and her husband during the war, the fate of their family members, and of the many years of hardship and bare survival that followed Hitler’s invasion of Poland. Barbara embarks on a quest to learn all she can about the time period, to piece together her fractured family tree, and to gain an understanding of the complex politics that shaped the region from which both of her parents came.
After an idyllic youth in rural Poland, it is shocking how quickly chaos descends on the area of Emma’s home after Hitler invades from one side, and Stalin from the other. Emma and many of the other Polish residents are arrested by the Soviets, who accuse them of espionage and anti-Soviet activity. Emma and many of her friends and family are imprisoned, first in a makeshift hold in Poland, then eventually in a labor camp somewhere in the vast tundra of the humongous region of eastern Russia, known as Siberia. There, Emma faces constant intimidation by the Soviet guards, starvation, hard labor, and endless boredom. Even after her release, the threat is far from over, as Emma must cross hundreds of miles of dangerous and desolate Soviet territory to try to find her way back to a Polish army base. Many years of hardship pass before Emma can reunite with her husband, and the trauma of the war follows both of them for the rest of their lives.
I was struck by the similarities in this account to some books written by survivors of the Holocaust. The author does an excellent job explaining the significant role of Poland in Hitler’s and Stalin’s strategizing during WWII. Though the politics are complex, this book offers a straightforward and approachable summary of the key events that shaped the lives of the groups described. The descriptions of the roundups of Polish families and their deportations by train to labor camps and execution sites were eerily familiar, though the orders in this case were given by Stalin rather than Hitler. I was struck, upon reading this account, how little I had known about these atrocities prior to this. The author successfully brought heartbreaking details to life without allowing the reading experience to cross into unbearably tragic. There was also an extremely well-executed balance between doing honor to her mother’s story and memories and maintaining a level of privacy and dignity about the more personal details of the trauma and suffering that Emma underwent.
I was fascinated by the information in this book, both on a personal level (as the personalities of Emma and her husband Zdzich are quite endearing) and on a global and historical scale. It is always easier for me to digest historical information when it is contextualized within the story of an individual, or several individuals, living in that time period. This book accomplished just that, so history enthusiasts, and particularly fans of micro-histories, are likely to enjoy this read. There was little that was negative about the book, other than the fact that I wish we had been able to know more about some of the events described. This was not always possible because of the limited content of the letters found by the author, and the inevitable loss of history that comes with the unfortunate passing of family members. I also found a handful of punctuation errors and small typos, though generally they were not overly distracting. I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars, though it came close to receiving a perfect rating from me. It is not always an easy read, but it is an impactful one, and sheds light on portions of history that deserve to be remembered and retold.
******
Letters from the Box in the Attic
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like bluegreenmarina's review? Post a comment saying so!
𝔄𝔰𝔭𝔢𝔫 𝔊𝔞𝔯𝔫𝔢𝔯
