For generations large-familied Russians have repeated a proverb: V tesnote, da Ne V Obide (Crowding is no discomfort). Veronika, a Moscow glovemaker, remembered it as she got up from her narrow bed, stumbled over her sleeping daughters and lit a fire in the little iron pechka in the center of the tiny room. It was below freezing in the room, water had to be left dripping to keep the pipes from freezing and on this, the first day of 1943, Veronika Popova, Russia's Jane Smith, dressed quickly, repeating to herself a newer...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
