A Dream of Belonging: My Years in Postwar Poland

This book is autobiographical. The author is a well-educated and very perceptive Jewish lady, now living in Britain, who, at the time, lived and worked in Poland (having survived the Holocaust). She describes the main events in her personal life, such as getting married to a dashing army officer and convinced Communist (who later leaves both the military and the party); also, giving birth to, and bringing up, three daughters. The author becomes, herself, a sincere and dedicated member of the Communist Party. She becomes, in effect, a censor and member of the "red bourgeoisie", due to her role within the film production administration. Gradually, however, she realises that Socialism in post-war Poland is a misleading hall of mirrors. Worse still, a resurgence in rabid antisemitism, openly encouraged by the authorities, wrecks all her dreams of "belonging" in that country. The Zionist ideal takes over, and, together with her husband, they decide to emigrate to Israel. As much as a Jewish perspective on post-war Poland, this well and wittily written book is fascinating because it provides an insight into the beliefs and expectations of many a Communist in the 1950s and 1960s - and not only in Poland. This autobiography will tell you more about all these issues - and the nature of Soviet-style Socialism - than 1,000 learned treatises would. If you have any interest in the topics described, you should definitely read this book, which is never boring, and often illuminating.