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ReviewsThe Genius Under the Table: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain
by Eugene Yelchin
in: Biography Nonfiction
Rule number one in Soviet Russia:
Never say what you really think.
Especially if you’re a Jew.
This is the story of one man who broke that rule.
Sharansky’s parents raised him to feel proud of his Judaism despite the danger of doing so in the Soviet Union.
The Six-Day War inspired Sharansky to study Hebrew and Israeli history by reading Jewish books they secretly copied and shared.
In 1973, Sharansky became a refusenik when the Soviet government refused his request to emigrate to Israel.
Sharansky and his wife Avital were married by a rabbi in a Jewish ceremony.
Sharansky relied on his faith in God and his goal of reaching the land of Israel to get through his hard times in prison.
Jews around the world protested, wrote songs, and did whatever they could to raise awareness around the world about Sharansky and the plight of Soviet Jews.
Sharansky’s parents raised him to feel proud of his Judaism despite the danger of doing so in the Soviet Union.
The Six-Day War inspired Sharansky to study Hebrew and Israeli history by reading Jewish books they secretly copied and shared.
In 1973, Sharansky became a refusenik when the Soviet government refused his request to emigrate to Israel.
Sharansky and his wife Avital were married by a rabbi in a Jewish ceremony.
Sharansky relied on his faith in God and his goal of reaching the land of Israel to get through his hard times in prison.
Jews around the world protested, wrote songs, and did whatever they could to raise awareness around the world about Sharansky and the plight of Soviet Jews.