As I Was Burying Comrade Stalin: My Life Becoming a Jewish Dissident

Arkady Polishchuk came of age in Stalin's Russia, in the turbulent times before, during and after World War II. His love for the Soviet dictator persisted for years until Polishchuk, a 19-year-old Jew, was not admitted to the university. In 1952, he learned about the preparations for mass deportation of Jews to Siberia.

He celebrated Stalin's death in 1953--but state oppression dominated his life as before. As a young reporter for the Kostroma regional newspaper, he met with destitute plow...