Growing Up Russian in China: A Historical Memoir

The central motif of this unique historical memoir is the life of the authors family inDairen (now Dalian) during the Japanese occupation, then the Soviet occupation, and,finally, under the Chinese Communist Government. Ms. Erohina gave the backgroundof the historical events which affected the lives of the Russians, the Chinese, and theJapanese during the Second World War and the postwar years.She explains why the Russians lived in China, and how they not only preserved theirculture and language but contributed greatly to the fields of science, music, andliterature. Some lived there at the turn of the 20th Century as businessmen, and manycame to Manchuria (now Northeast of the Peoples Republic of China) during therailway construction, which was a branch of the Trans-Siberian Railroad. The majority,however, came as refugees fleeing from the Bolsheviks during the Civil War thatimmediately followed the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. Th e Civil War split the peopleinto the Reds, or the Bolsheviks, and the Whites, who apposed them. The authorsgrandparents were among the refugees.Ms. Erohina described her familys move to Shanghai in 1954 as a transit point for thedeparture from China, and gave a detailed account of its early and postwar years, and itsimpact on the lives of Russian migrs. Then, followed the familys journey as refugeesby sea from China via Hong Kong and many ports from Singapore to South Africa, andthen to Brazil. She touched upon their life in Sao Paulo, Brazil in 1950s, and then theirtrip to the United States in 1958 where the family fi nally settled.Author: Tatiana Erohina is a retired college language instructor. She was born and raisedin NE China, lived in Brazil, and came to this country in 1958. She has an M.A. inliterature from Ohio State University. When she retired, she wrote her unique historicalmemoir Growing Up Russian in China. She lives in Southern California.