An archive photo of Nina’s father, Elli, shows that he was part of the Romanian army, which probably attributed to his later arrest. I asked about his history before he had been arrested. Nina said he didn’t talk about what happened, she only knows that he was a police commissioner charged with anti-Soviet propaganda – a charge the family believes to be untrue. It was dangerous for the family to talk about his life before the deportations, both in the home and in society. Nina doesn’t know what was written on the back of the photograph.

Nina’s mother also kept silent about the family’s deportation. Nina recalls, “… Until 1985, no one in the family would talk about [our deportation]. We wouldn’t talk about it, not even mother would mention the deportations, or about living in Siberia. The story was over.”

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