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Book Review: Eleven Winters of Discontent
Eleven Winters of Discontent: The Siberian Internment and the Making of Modern Japan by Sherzod Muminov
By Kelly Noble, Gold Mine Processing Manager
It should not be surprising if you have not heard of the Siberian Internment. I would speculate that most Americans would know little of this period in Japanese History—fortunately, a new book on the subject was published in 2022.
Professor Muminov, a historian at the University of East Anglia, has authored a well-researched book that includes an analysis of recently released Soviet war-era documents. The author aims to highlight this moment in history and examine the overall impact on post-war Japanese society.
At the end of the second world war, three divisions of the Russian Army invaded northern China- a place historically called Manchuria. The Japanese had previously invaded the same area in 1932 and set up a Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. At the time of the Russian invasion in 1945, approximately 2.7 million Japanese were living in the area. By mid-1945, the Japanese Army found itself under attack and retreating after the Japanese agreed to an unconditional surrender. The Japanese defenses were no match for the Russian Army, and after a few months of fighting, 600,000 Japanese Imperial Army soldiers and civilians had been captured. The war was over, and most POWs were expected to be released, ending a long, arduous journey for most prisoners of war. Unfortunately for the Japanese, Joseph Stalin had other ideas.
Over the next eleven years, the Soviets would use the POWS as forced labor (slave labor) to rebuild Russia’s infrastructure. The Japanese prisoners, including many women and civilian government officials, were shipped off to various labor camps throughout the Soviet Union. The conditions were harsh, and approximately 60,000 POWs died in captivity. Muminov’s book contains many stories of camp life. These stories, gleaned from survivor accounts published after their repatriation, spoke of hardship, malnutrition, and Soviet reeducation.
Repatriation and freedom did not alleviate the pain of cruelty. The scars of war run deep, and the effects of such harsh experiences are not easily forgotten or erased. Many of the children of these survivors often spoke of the memories their loved ones bore. In post-modern Japan, the idea of victimhood entered the national dialogue. But how much emphasis should the world give the Japanese? Let us remember; the Japanese invaded China in 1932 with the imperial idea of setting up a permanent state on Chinese territory. Victimization has many layers.
I highly recommend Muminov’s new book, Eleven Winters of Discontent. There is much to be learned from world history.
“Tracking Lions, Myth, and Wilderness in Samburu”
with Jon Turk
A provocative look at the vital connection between human beings, the natural world and meaningful knowledge.
While tracking a lion with a Samburu headman and then, later, eluding human assailants who may be tracking him, Jon Turk experiences people at their best and worst. As the tracker and the tracked, Jon reveals how the stories we tell each other, and the stories spinning in our heads, can be molded into innovation, love and co-operation — or harnessed to launch armies. Seeking escape from the confusion we create for ourselves and our neighbors with our think-too-much-know-it-all brains, Jon finds liberation within a natural world that spins no fiction.
Set in a high-adventure narrative on the unforgiving savannah, Tracking Lions, Myth, and Wilderness in Samburu explores the aboriginal wisdoms that endowed our Stone Age ancestors with the power to survive – and how, since then, myth, art, music, dance, and ceremony have often been hijacked and distorted within our urban, scientific, oil-soaked world.
A book signing with Jon will follow the presentation. Register to reserve your seat. The program will also be livestreamed and available to watch later on Vimeo. Click here to watch on Vimeo.
Jon Turk grew up on the shores of a wooded lake in Connecticut, attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, and then Brown University. He earned a Ph.D. in organic chemistry in 1971 and was nominated by National Geographic as one of the Top Ten Adventurers of the Year in 2012. He has published numerous magazine articles and four adventure books: Cold Oceans, In the Wake of the Jomon, The Raven’s Gift, and Crocodiles and Ice. Jon splits his time between Darby, Montana and Fernie, British Columbia.
Cornbread & Poppy
By Matthew Cordell
A heartwarming first reader can be a generational gem. This new series looks to be a winner with rich characters, a sweet story, and accessible text for emerging readers. Cornbread & Poppy is sure to be a favorite for years to come.
Signs of Survival: A Memoir of the Holocaust
Whenever Nazi boots hit the pavement outside Renee’s house it was her job to warn her deaf parents and sister. Later incarcerated in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp Renee and her sister used sign language to communicate and survive in the most terrible of circumstances. This book is based on a true story.
Los Tipos Malos/The Bad Guys
By Aaron Blabey (available in English & Spanish).
“The Bad Guys” series by Aaron Blabey is a fun graphic style series for young readers that has been adapted to a feature film currently in theatres. This books is available in our collection in both English and Spanish and will also be available on the Bloom truck this summer.
