THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS s
Horrors of Russian Life, Siberia
Related in Ruth Kaminska Story
NEW YORK — What is
Soviet prison life reall y ,
like? How can a young
woman who was decorat ed
with honors by the Soviet s
tlien be forced to endure to n
frightening years of Sovie t
oppression?
Ruth Turkow knows th e
cruel answers only too well
uring her 16 years in the
viet Union, she wit-
ssed Russian life as per-
haps no other non-Russia n
has seen it — from both th e
most privileged and mos t
depraved levels imaginabl e
— first as a bejeweled ac
tress and singer, then as a
prisoner of Russian concen
tration camps.
"I Don't Want to Be Brav e
Anymore". (New Republi c
Books) is the heart-rending,
and inspiring, memoir of
those years of freedom and
then survival under Sovie t
rule.
Ruth Kaminska begins
her story with her an d
her family's narrow es
cape from war-torn War-
saw in 1939 to "freedom"
in Moscow. Her mother i s
Ida Kaminska, - th e
world-famous actres s
and star of the Yiddis h
theatre.
Her husband is A di
Rosner, one of the most
acclaimed musicians in a ll
of Europe. (His prized po s-
session is a photograph of a
fellow trumpeter which is
inscribed: "To the whit e
Louis Armstrong, from he
t .
black Adi Rosner.") In 1941,
a
Ruth gives birth to Erik,
her first and only child.
ThroughoUt World War
II, Ruth learns first-hand
ISRAEL
it
watch for
' opening
baby & me
, ERICA and RUTH
TURKOW KAMINSKA
the anomalies of Soviet
"classless" society: while
people line up in the streets
to buy bread, she and Adi
tour the warfront,
entertaining Russian troops
at the head of a 38-man
band. They are rewarded
with nightly Lucullan
feasts and other luxuries be-
fitting their fame, including
medals of honor for their ar-
tistic achievement.
Suddenly, at the war's
end, Ruth is arrested on
phony charges of treason
and attempted border cross-
ing. She is put in the dead
of winter in a cell with a
glassless window and ice on
the floor — her drinking
water. Then she is taken to
a prison hospital where liv-
ing patients are dragged
from their beds and dumped
into a lime pit.
Years later she is exiled
to Siberia where, against all
hope, but sustained by an
indothitable will to live, she
builds her own home, tames
a wolf for companionship
and security, and dreams of
seeing Erika and her family
once again.
Not until the death of
Stalin and the dismissal
of Beria by the Supreme
Soviet does Ruth receive
4014.1-pie a
Atear -6144tt
2
help
isviet •
YES—to the Jewish National Fund
JNF land supports the -whole Israel
economy — it grows food — on it
stands Israel's religious, educational
and welfare institutions. A bequest to .
the JNF is a bequest to the entire
Jewish people, linking the name bf the
Testator with Israel in perpetuity.
For information and ad% ire.
in , tri•r confidence appl
■
to "
FOUNDATION FOR
JEWISH NATIONAL FUND
27308 Southfield
557-6644
Southfield, Mi. 48076
IDA KAMINSKA
permission to emigrate to
her native Warsaw. "This
was the happy ending of
something, she writes;'at
last repatriated in Po-
land and reunited with
her family. "Of what it
was the beginning I could
not tell. I knew only that I
did not want to be brave
anymore."
Ruth Turkow Kaminska
was born in Kiev, Russia
while her parents were
touring with her
grandparents' theatrical
company. She studied at the
State Institute of the Art of
Drama in Warsaw. Ruth
was a stage actress and
singer until her arrest after
World War II. She is now an
American citizen living in
New York City.
Tattoos Banned
by Jewish Law
By RABBI SAMUEL FOX
(Copyright 1978, JTA, Inc.)
- The practice of tattooing
one's skin is forbidden in
Jewish law.
The basis of this law is bi-
blical in origin. The Bible
explicitly states, "There
shall be, no harlot of the -\\
daughters of • Israel."
(Deuteronomy 23:18) One
reason for this prohibition is
that it was an idolatrous
practice in early pagan
temples.
Secondly, it represents a
practice in which one enjoys
something in life without
the acceptance of any re-
sponsibility. Whatever one
enjoys or partakes of in life
must be subject to a sense of
responsibility. Otherwise
the practice vulgarizes the
gift of life given to man by
the Almighty.
Tel Aviv University
Professors of Genetics,
Israel Ashkenazi and
Hanoch Slor: "We regret to
announce that we have
found it necessary to with-
draw'from the International
Congress on Genetics in
Moscow.
"As free Iniman beings, as
Jews and as scientists, we
cannot in good conscience
lend a hand to any project
which is sponsored and
supervised by a government
whose policy is to repress
the basic rights and free-
doms of human beings to
think, tell and speak with-
out fear of reprisal."
f , j1 !•'4.
Friday, October 6, 1978 11
cc
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*OFFER GOOD UNTIL
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