Fallout: Spies, Superbombs and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown by Steve Sheinkin

World War II has ended with the United States and Russia emerging as the two dominant world powers. For the United States, that domination is partly due to the dropping of the atomic bomb on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But now the race is on to dominate in the age of nuclear weapons.

In June, 1953, paper boy Jimmy Bozart was collecting for his paper route. He often was tipped an extra nickel or dime. From the two retired teachers on the top floor of the apartment building, Jimmy was given a quarter and five nickels. But on his way down the stairs, he slipped and the change spilled. Jimmy found the quarter and four of the nickels. The fifth nickel was in two parts: the back and a hollowed out front containing what looked like a tiny piece of film.

Jimmy raced home, wondering if the strange nickel was somehow connected to Soviet spies. The Cold War was intensifying and any bit of information might help. By 1953, the Soviets and United States were locked in a deadly race to build atomic and nuclear weapons of mass destruction.

Eventually the nickel came to a classmate's father who was a detective in the New York police and he passed it on to the FBI. They questioned the two teachers and did further investigation into the origins of the nickel but were unable to determine anything. The film was sent to code breakers in Washington, D.C. Meanwhile, the man who actually crafted the nickel was living in Brooklyn, not far from Jimmy Bozart's family. That man was Rudolf Abel, a Soviet spy who had entered the country via Canada.

It wasn't until August, 1949 that the Soviets successfully tested their first atomic bomb, a weapon they were only able to make after stealing the technology from the United States. In early 1950, President Harry Truman announced the United States was working on a new, more powerful bomb, a hydrogen bomb or H-bomb. Abel was working to steal that technology in the hopes of giving the Soviets an advantage.

But the H-bomb would become a reality very quickly. Edward Teller, a Jewish physicist who fled Germany during the war, came to work at a secret lab called Los Alamos in New Mexico. After working on creating the atomic bomb, Teller along with other scientists wondered if it were possible to make a big bomb by fusing atoms together. It was Teller and Stanislaw Ulam who solved this problem. In November 1952, the United States successfully tested a H-bomb. By 1956, the U.S. would have 3,700 bombs. By 1959, the U.S. had over 12,000 bombs.

In the months after Josef Stalin's death in 1953, Nikita Khrushchev managed to seize control of power in Soviet Russia. He was determined to see the spread of communism throughout the world. In 1955, the Soviets successfully tested their own hydrogen bomb. The nuclear arms race was now on. Like the U.S., the Soviets began stockpiling bombs and building planes and rockets to deliver those bombs.

As both the United States and the Soviet Union continued to develop, test and stockpile nuclear weapons, a series of events over 1960 and 1961 would draw the superpowers into the ultimate nuclear showdown. 

Discussion

With Fallout, Steve Sheinkin continues the story of the arms race and the development of weapons of mass destruction that began during World War II and was told in his book Bomb. In this book, he follows the events that led up to the showdown between the Soviet Union which was placing nuclear missiles in Cuba and the United States, the intended target of those missiles.

The series of events were many and all connected. The first was the capture of U2 pilot Francis Gary Powers who was on a final reconnaissance flight over the Soviet Union on May 1, 1960. These flights, in the era before satellites, had provided the United States with valuable military intelligence about the Soviet build-up of weapons.

The second was the growing alliance between Khrushchev and the new leader of Cuba, Fidel Castro. President Eisenhower considered Castro a growing threat not only to the U.S. but also to other countries in South America. The third was the election of John F. Kennedy as President of the United States in November, 1960. He was the youngest president ever elected to the office and he was relatively inexperienced. Khrushchev saw him as weak and immature but it was Kennedy's reluctance to escalate the conflict that helped avert a war.

The fourth event was the invasion of Cuba by the United States with the intent to remove Fidel Castro. There was evidence the Soviets were sending military supplies to Cuba. After much planning and denial by the U.S., the invasion occurred at Bahia de Cochinos, the Bay of Pigs and was a massive failure. 

This was followed by the successful launch by the Soviets of a cosmonaut, Yuri Gagurin, into space - the fifth event. It meant the Soviets now had the potential capability to send a nuclear warhead over the ocean to America. 

Finally, the building of the Berlin wall served to increase tension dramatically in Europe. This was the one place where communism and the free world directly faced off. After World War II, Germany was a country divided: West Germany was democratic while East Germany was a communist dictatorship. Similarly, the capital of Germany, Berlin was also split in two. East Berlin was part of communist East Germany while West Berlin was part of democratic free West Germany. Life in East Germany and East Berlin was difficult as both were oppressive, police states. As a result, people fled from east to west and by 1962, over a thousand a day were leaving. This infuriated Khrushchev who wanted to take over the entire city of Berlin. To stop the drain of people, Walter Ulbricht suggested building a wall between East and West Berlin.

These events were all important catalysts. But it was the fact that the Americans had bases all over Europe including a new operational one in Turkey and that the Soviets were still behind in the nuclear arms race that led Khrushchev to undertake what he later admitted to his son, was "a bluff". "The missiles in Cuba had always been a bluff....The goal was to give the Americans a taste of their own medicine, to make them live with a bit more fear. That would even out the global balance of power. The Soviets could refocus on driving the Americans out of Berlin, and the march to Cold War victory would continue from there."  

It was unbelievable that it was this irresponsible "bluff" which brought the world to the brink of  nuclear war. It seems President Kennedy and Soviet naval Captain Vasili Arkhipov who was the chief of staff for the four Soviet subs near the naval blockage and who had seen the horrors of radiation poisoning from the K-19 nuclear submarine disaster, were the two men who likely prevented nuclear war. Kennedy couldn't imagine starting a nuclear war, despite intense pressure from his military staff and Arkhipov refused to allow the launch of a nuclear missile from one of the subs.

Fallout is well researched, and a fascinating read. The events are told in three parts bookended with a Prologue and an Epilogue. Each part presents black and white photographs of the major players in the events described. Sheinkin does an excellent job of portraying all the moving parts of these events including Russian spies, world leaders, and ordinary citizens including a young paper boy. Despite being well written, this is a book for much older readers and adults. The events are complex and all interconnected.

Sheinkin undertook the research and writing of this book before being interrupted by the pandemic. Nevertheless, he was able to continue his research and talk to Francis Gary Powers Jr. as well as Dr. Sergei Khrushchev, son of Nikita Khrushchev. Dr. Khrushchev was able to provide valuable insights into the events from the Soviet perspective.

Fallout is a must-read for those who want to understand Europe as it exists today and the current events unfolding between Russia and Ukraine.

Book Details:

Fallout: Spies, Superbombs and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown by Steve Sheinkin
New York: Roaring Book Press     2021
341 pp.

A Thousand Sisters by Elizabeth Wein

A Thousand Sisters: The Heroic Airwomen of The Soviet Union in World War II tells the thrilling story of three Soviet regiments, the 586, 587 and 588th each made up of over three hundred young women aviators - a thousand young women who became the first female pilots to fight in a war.

The book is divided into five parts, describing a specific part of the  World War II effort as it pertains to the women aviators.

Part I The Future War sets the stage by providing some of the backstory to how the Soviet Union came to incorporate women aviators in its air force.  The beginning of the 20th century saw women agitating for greater rights and participation in society.In Imperial Russia, women wanted to fight in WWI; one example was Maria Bochkareva who joined a men's battalion and was a fearless soldier. After the revolution, young women and men grew up believing that some day they would have to fight a future war. Therefore, their education and training was geared towards that end and a patriotism for their motherland was instilled in them.

Part II The Great Patriotic War: The First Year: 1941-1942 explains how the womens aviation regiment came about.

Germany invaded Russia on June 22, 1941 along an Eastern front that stretched from the Black Sea in the south all the way to the Baltic Sea in the north. Three million German soldiers raced across Eastern Europe with the people of the Soviet states of Belorussia and Ukraine fleeing before them. In the Soviet Union, young people who had grown up with the belief that there would be a war in their lifetime, rushed to enlist.  While women were pilots and instructors, there was no way for them to enlist in the war effort.

Marina Raskova approached Josef Stalin offering to form a womens air regiment as part of the Soviet air force. Stalin agreed and the Soviet Union became the only nation during World War II that allowed women into air combat roles. Order 0099, issued on October 8, 1941 by the People's Commissariat of Defense called for the creation of "a combat group of female aviators, including commanders, pilots, navigators, mechanics, armorers and ground staff, to be created and led by Marina Raskov."  Women civil pilots as well as pilots from Osoaviakhim were to report to a specific location in Moscow. Hundreds of young women answered the call and were thrown into military drills and ill-fitting men's uniforms almost immediately.

Marina Raskova

But sorting through the recruits was not to happen in Moscow as the Germans were close to capturing the city. Some four hundred young women fled Moscow along with 150,000 civilians when the Germans overran the city. Eventually almost one thousand women answered Raskova's call to form a womens aviation regiment. They were sent to Engels, a town on the Volga River which also was the location of a military flight school. The formal name for Raskova's aviation unit would be the 122nd Composite Air Group.

The one thousand recruits were divided into pilots, navigators, and technicians, disappointing many of the women who wanted to be pilots. There were three regiments, the 586th Bomber Aviation Regiment commanded by Tamara Kazarinova, the 587th Bomber Aviation Regiment commanded by Raskova herself and the 588th Night Bomber Regiment commanded by Yevdokia Bershanskaya.These women would have to learn to fly various aircraft. The 586th flew new single-seat Yak-1s, while the 587 trained in new dive bomber and fighter planes called Petlyakov Pe-2. The 588th Night bombers were to fly noisy Polikarpov Po-2 biplanes. In March of 1942, two of the womens' regiments were ready for action; the 586th was assigned to protect Saratov, an important city on the banks of the Volga River. However, the 588th Night Bombers were sent back for more training in night flying after the deaths of four aviators in crashes during night flights.

In Part III The Great Patriotic War The Second Year: 1942-1943 Wein focuses the various exploits and disasters each of the women's regiments experienced. All three regiments are now flying: the 588th is sent into combat in May of 1942, while the 587th receives the new Pe-2 dive-bombers Marina ordered.

Enthusiasm for war was waning in the Soviet Union in part due to the repressive laws of Stalin. In 1941, Stalin had enacted Order 270 which stated that soldiers who were captured or surrendered were considered traitors. Now in the summer of 1942, Stalin's newest order, 227 "Not One Step Back" made even retreating from battle a crime. This meant POW's could be executed the minute they were freed and those missing in action or for whom there was no certainty they had died in battle would receive no official recognition, nor any compensation.

It was in this climate that the battle for Stalingrad began. Wein follows all three regiments in their assignments especially their contributions to the battle for Stalingrad. She also relates how war was especially difficult for women combatants and how they developed ways to cope with the tremendous stress and the loss of fellow aviators and friends.In January of 1943, the women aviators had to deal with the loss of their founder and mentor, Marina Raskova.

The success of the 588th Night Bomber Regiment in bombing the German troops at night was recognized in their being awarded the special title "Guards" become the 46th Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment.

Part IV The Great Patriotic War The Third and Fourth Years: 1943 to 1945. The year 1943 saw war throughout the world. The Battle of the Atlantic between German submarines and British battleships was ongoing. The United States was fighting Japan in the Pacific theatre and the Allies were pushing the Germans out of north Africa and up the Italian peninsula. While the Allies were bombing German cities and industries, the Russians were fighting on the Eastern Front.

Wein describes the continuing efforts of the 46th Guards Night Bomber Aviation in harassing the German troops. However, their great success often came at great cost. On the night of July 31, 1943, the regiment lost four pilots and four navigators. After this tragedy, they devised a plan to help cut their losses during night bombing runs through the use of diversionary tactics. Eventually the 46th Guards came to be called the "night witches" by the German soldiers for their relentless bombings and the sounds their aircraft made flying low over the troops.

Lydia Litvyak who never returned from her Aug 1, 1943 mission.

The stress of battle was not dismissed so easily by the women aviators, most of whom experienced extreme physical stress and terror during their missions. They were so successful that they were renamed the 46th Taman Guards for helping to liberate Crimea from the Germans. Meanwhile the 587th was renamed the 125th M.M. Raskova Guards Bomber Aviation Regiment after their significant contributions to the Battle of Kursk.

On June 6, 1944, the Allied invasion of Normandy resulting in the opening of the second front so long desired by Stalin and the Soviet Union. The three women's aviation regiments continued their battles. The 125th was renamed again as the 125th M. M. Raskova Borisov Guards after a town in Belorussian they had liberated from the Germans.

Part IV focuses on the remaining missions and the horrors of war the women aviators encountered as the Soviets raced to capture Berlin ahead of the Allies and end the war.

Part V After The War presents the personal toll the women pilots experienced after having been engaged in combat for one thousand nights along with the statistics for each of the three women's regiments. In the post-War period, although the Soviet Union helped the surviving women soldiers, they weren't allowed to talk about their experiences, nor to continue their military service in the air force. It wasn't until after Stalin's death in 1953 that the memoirs of the female aviators began to be published, beginning in 1957.

Today in modern Russia, women pilots have returned to the military, and the survivors of the World War II womens' regiments still meet regularly, although many are very elderly. These women flew on the winds of change, helping their country win a war that cost their country more lives than any other. The bravery and sacrifice of these thousand sisters lives on eternally.

Discussion

A Thousand Sisters is a comprehensive account of the Soviet women's regiments that fought from 1943 until the end of WWII to save their country from Nazi Germany. It's evident from the detail and the enormous Source Notes at the back of the book, that Wein undertook considerable research about a topic that is dear to her. While this book has been marketed for teens, it's more likely to interest older World War II history enthusiasts especially those interested in Russian and aviation history.

From the very beginning Wein uses the analogy of how a pilot must be attentive to the wind when flying to explain how several factors came together resulting in the Soviet Union utilizing women pilots in World War II both in support and combat roles.
"Navigating your way through life is like flying a small plane in a windy sky. To say that the wind is blowing with you or against you is too simple. Sometimes you need the wind behind you to speed things up; sometimes you need to head directly into the wind to help you take off."

Wein observes that people are often shaped by the politics and events and the world around them and Marina Raskova was no exception. "Your future will depend on how you decide to adjust to the winds of change around you." The impetus behind the use of women pilots by the Soviets was a young pilot herself, Marina Raskova who had survived the upheavals brought about by the Russian revolution and who utilized the events happening around her to her advantage.

Later on Wein notes that the huge death toll that included people like Lilya Litvyak and Marina Raskova was the result of being "caught in a wind too strong for them."  At the end of her book, Wein encourages her readers to be the wind of change. "If there is one thing to be learned from the thousand sisters of Raskova's regiments, it is that change is possible. It can begin with one person. Go out and change the wind."

The telling of the story of the thousand sisters - the three women's regiments - also makes reference to the issues of gender and sexuality. In the chapter "Life is life" Wein discusses some of the difficulties being a woman presented in the Soviet air force. The young women aviators had to cope with uniforms and boots that didn't fit. They had to wear mens underwear which didn't fit and was uncomfortable. In the latter situation, the women would attempt to obtain German parachute silk to make their own panties, but if they were caught, the consequences were serious.

Wein makes the point that "War is gendered, and it is not feminine. No matter how valiantly a woman proves herself in battle, her experience of war will always differ from a man's experience, because she is a woman. Dressing in men's clothes and using the same equipment as men does not turn a woman into a man." The latter point seems to be but lost today.

To cope Wein states that "the women made strong statements about their womanhood."  They made themselves slippers and devised curling irons to do their hair. they put flowers in their planes, did needlework and made pillows out of their footcloths. They wrote poetry, produced newsletters and literary magazines and had talent shows. These feminine creative outlets were important to them. And in Marina Raskova they had the "model of perfection as a soldier, a woman, and a mother." The women aviators hoped someday when the war was over and they were victorious, they would marry and have children and a peaceful family life.

Unfortunately, Wein strays into the area of sexual orientation when she wonders if there were lesbian relationships between the women aviators, if the closes friendships that formed were more than just that. Viewing history through the filters of today's pervasive current climate of gender identity and sexual orientation is a disservice to those who lived through these difficult times. In life and death situations, it is likely that forming close emotional bonds was an important and healthy way to counter the fact that these women pilots faced the stress of a gruesome death at any time. The entire discussion seems moot since Wein concludes, "Regardless of their sexuality, most of them liked to remind themselves that, yes, they still identified as women."

Wein points out the significant loss the Soviet Union suffered because of the war. It is possible that the casualties were as high as forty-five million. But as Wein states, "Whatever the final numbers may be, they are just numbers. Who can measure the loss to the world of a person as complex and energetic as Zhenya Rudneva at the age of twenty-two? Or as driven and charismatic as twenty-one-year-old Lilya Litvyak?" As in any war, the loss of the young, with all their promise is the greatest tragedy.

Overall, A Thousands Sisters is a remarkable book about a remarkable group of young women who were determined to save their country. Wein captures their incredible determination, courage, resiliency and patriotism.Included is a map of Eastern Europe so readers can place the locations of various events as well as many black and white photographs of these amazing women.

Image Credits:https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/gallery/might-night-witches-stunning-colour-10827354

Book Details:  

 A Thousand Sisters. The Heroic Airwomen Of The Soviet Union In World War II by Elizabeth (Wein) Gatland
New York: Balzer & Bray     2019
388pp.

Among The Red Stars by Gwen C. Katz

Among The Red Stars relates the experiences of two young, fictional Soviets, one in the Red Army, the other as a member of the famous female bomber regiment that earned the nickname "the night witches",  as they fight to free their country from the Nazis. The story covers the time period from 1938 to the end of the war.

The novel opens September 1938 with the disappearance of the new experimental bomber, Rodina on a flight from Moscow to Komsolmos crewed by Pilot Valentina Grizodoubova, copilot Polina Osipenko and navigator Marina Raskova. Valentina (Valka) Sergeevne Koroleva, her best friend Pavel (Pasha) Kirillovich Danilin and her cousin, Iskra Ivanovna Koroleva are following the flight which aims to set a record for the longest straight line flight by a woman.

The story jumps ahead to three years later. Valka is now eighteen and a pilot. One day she takes her close friend, Pasha on a flight out of the aerodrome in their town of Stakhanovo. On their flight over the town they are waved down by Pasha's sister. On the ground, they learn that Nazi Germany has broken the non-aggression pact and is at war with the Soviet Union. While the radio announcer insists they will prevail, as they did over Napoleon, Valka's father states that Hitler wants to exterminate them, not just conquer the country.

Despite the war, Valka is turned down by the VVS (Red Air Force) as a pilot and is encouraged to help in another way, even to consider becoming a mother. Pasha though, has received his draft orders. When Valka comes to see him off, Pasha, whom she has known since they were toddlers, asks to write her.

At this point in the novel, their story is told mostly through their correspondence with one another, as well as through Valka's narration. Through his basic training, Pasha, who has synesthesia - he hears colours, is mentored by a big, older soldier named Vakhromov. Pasha who is in training to be a radio operator is terrified of Pashkevich, his NCO whom he reports to. Another soldier, Rudenko is in charge of carrying the battery pack. On October 1, he is mobilized, part of  the 336th Rifle Regiment.

In mid-October, Valka and Iskra learn from their flight instructor, Iosif Grigorevich that the Komsomol Central Office is looking for female pilots, navigators and aircraft mechanics to serve in all female fighter and bomber regiments. He has forwarded their documents to the Komsomol Central Office to Major Marina Mikhailovna Raskova, Valka's idol. They must be at the Zhukovsky Air Force Academy in Moscow by Monday October 13. In order to make the deadline, Grigorevich flies the two girls to Moscow. At the Zhukosvsky Air Force Academy there are over a thousand girls waiting to be interviewed. They meet Yevdokiya Bershanskaya, who is an airline pilot and who has been sworn in as a lieutenant. Valka passes her interview with Raskova who is impressed with her ability to fly a plane without a fully operational engine.  She is assigned to Aviation Group 122. Valka knows that if she's lucky she will "be assigned to the fighter regiment and become one of Stalin's falcons." But if she's unlucky she will be assigned to the day bomber regiment or if "woefully unlucky" she will end up as a night bomber.

The pilot recruits endure a nine day journey in a boxcar south to Engels, "an industrial city in the barren steppe." During the trip, Valka and Iskra meet Zhenya Zhigulenko whom Valka decides to call Zhigli, a girl named Lidiya Vladimirovna Litvyak who goes by Lilya. In the presence of Zhigli, Valka inadvertently makes reference to Iskra's family's crime - her parents were "wreckers" in the 1937 Soviet census, which they were working on. The census showed that the Soviet Union and especially the Ukraine were not flourishing as Stalin claimed and that the population was actually declining. Valka's own experience of seeing starving peasants fleeing their farms seemed to confirm this. However, Stalin placed the blame on those working in the census bureau and it wasn't long before Iskra's mother and then her father were incarcerated for ten years. Valka knows her cousin, although innocent, is tainted by association. But she does not trust Zhigli to not report her cousin.

In Engels, the three hundred trainees are billeted in a gymnasium. Captain Militsa Kazarinovna orders their hair cut and they begin training on the Polikarpov U-2s.  Tamara Kazarinovna, sister of the captain, is made commander of the fighter regiment. Then unexpectedly, Iskra doesn't show up for class or dinner. The following day Valka reports her cousin missing to the chief of staff, Kazarinovna. She is told that "an irregularity in her autobiography" has led to her being investigated. Valka is convinced that Zhigli is responsible for her cousin's arrest. In the hopes of helping her, Valka appeals to Raskova but is told to focus on her training. In an attempt to comfort the devastated Valka, Lilya reveals to her that her father too was taken in 1937.

Meanwhile Pasha discovers that Rudenko is a believer, an Orthodox Christian. On December 5, 1941, Pasha's unit is part of the offensive to drive the Nazis from Moscow. During the fighting, he sees his first soldier die. The offensive is successful as the Germans begin retreating from Moscow, except for one salient, the territory around the town of Rzhev. When Pasha hears of Iskra's disappearance he tells Valka that the Red Army too is undergoing a purge. In his letter, Pasha mentions article he has read in Pravda. It is about a young Russian partisan, Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, who was assigned to burn the village of Petrishchevo where a German cavalry regiment was stationed. Zoya was tortured and hanged, supposedly by the Germans.  Little does Pasha know that this event will have grave significance for him in a few months time.

On February 8, 1942, Valka finally learns her assignment - she along with Vera, Zhigli and Tanya are assigned to the 588th Night Bomber Regiment, with Bershanskaya as her commander and Ilyushina as the regimental engineer. However, Valka has no assigned navigator. That is until Iskra unexpectedly shows up, and simply states that she was investigated and cleared.

Pasha's unit, without Rudenko who was killed by shrapnel from a shell, capture a German barracks. As he and Vakhromov work to patch the walls, Vakhromov catches a young boy attempting to steal food. The boy, Petya is only eight years old and at the pleading of Vakhromov is allowed to stay with the soldiers. In August Pasha and his unit are assigned to the Rzhev salient. There, heavy rockets nicknamed Katyushas cause Petya to scream in terror. The battle triggers Petya to reveal to Pasha and Vakhromov and the commissar about a soldier girl killed by the Hitlerites in his village of Petrishchevo. She was tortured and hanged by the Nazis who recorded her death in photographs. The commissar is certain that Petya witnessed the murder of Zoya Kosmodenmyanska and he believes the photographs will allow them to identify the culprits and glorify Zoya. Pahsa is filled with dread as to what this might mean for his unit and for Petya.

In October, 1942 Pasha's fears are proven correct when Comrade Stepanova arrives to hear Petya's story. The German cavalry unit that was in Petrishchevo has been located within the Rzhev salient and Stepanova is determined to take Pasha's unit into the battle to locate the photographs of Zoya whom she was good friends with. It is a mission Pasha doubts he will survive.

By May 24, 1942, Valka is now Junior Lieutenant Valentina Koroleva. The 588th is at the front, at their new base in the village of Trud Gornyaka, under the command of Major Bershanskaya. Although their initial practices in front of the division commander, Colonel Dmitry Dmitrievich Popov go badly, with more training the squadron improves and by June they are flying three missions a night. Valka's goal is now to do as much damage as possible to the fascists and survive the war.As the night bombers reputation grows, Valka finds herself falling in love with Pasha, and worrying over his increasing danger on the battlefield. It is Valka's love and determination that save Pasha when a risky mission during Operation Mars goes terribly wrong.

Discussion

Among The Red Stars is the second YA novel to tackle the story of the "night witches", the German nickname for the women night bombers of the Soviet Union's 588th Regiment. The first novel,  Night Witches by Kathryn Lasky offers the basic story of the these intrepid pilots but in no way compares to Katz's novel.

Polikarpov U-2 biplane used by the night bombers.

The Night Bomber regiment was formed in October, 1941 by Major Marina Raskova and led by Major Yvedokiya Bershanskaya on orders from Stalin. They came to be feared by the Nazi German army for their persistence and precision. These young women pilots flew Polikarpov U-2 biplanes made of wood and canvas on over 23,000 missions and were a significant factor in the Soviet war effort.

Katz has created a believable story that meshes together the fictional characters of Valka, Iskra, Pasha and his fellow soldiers with real people such as Marina Raskova, Yvedokiya Bershanskaya, Lidiya Litvyakwho, Yvegeniya Rudneva, Galina Dukutovich (Galya) and others who were part of the war effort. For example, in her Author's note at the back, Katz writes, "Zoya Kosmodenmyanska was a real person, and her execution took place as desccribed. The photos of her execution were later found on the body of a German officer near Smolensk. She was posthumously made a Hero of the Soviet Union, the first woman to receive that award during the war. In one of the photos, a young boy is visible, watching her being marched to the scaffold."

Among The Red Stars takes these fictional characters and seamlessly sets them within their proper historical context. Although Katz changed dates and combined events, what emerges is a detailed picture of what it was like to be a woman pilot in the 588th in Stalin's Soviet Union during World War II.

Maria Raskova

Katz manages to present the accomplishments of these amazing women pilots who were so feared by the Nazis, without glorifying the brutal Communist regime of Stalin. At the same time she gives young readers a snapshot of the fear that existed living under the Stalin regime. Both Valka and Pasha know of people who have simply disappeared as a result of Stalin's ongoing purges. 

Several times, Stalin's infamous Order 270 "There are no Soviet prisoners of war, only traitors." is mentioned by characters in the novel. The character Lilya explains to Valka that she is more afraid of going missing in action, surviving a crash or being taken prisoner. "Unless they have proof that you were killed in action, they'll treat you as a deserter." Next of kin get no survivor benefits. 

In real life, Lilya Litvyak went missing on August 1, 1943. Her body was never found and she was declared a deserter under Order 270. When squadron commander Olkhovskaya and her navigator do not return from one of the first missions, Valka tells Pasha in a letter, "Gone without a trace. Do you know what that means, Pasha? It means that two airwomen who were eager to fight are now listed as deserters. It means that their families get nothing, not even the right to say that their daughters were killed in the Great Patriotic War."

Set against the backdrop of war, is the blossoming relationship between Pasha Danilin and Valka Koroleva. To Katz's credit this romance never overshadows the story of the female bombers. When Pasha leaves for war, he is no more than a friend to Valka, but they grow closer through their correspondence, as they share their war experiences. Pasha admits his growing admiration for Valka and certain that he will not see her again he opens his heart to her. "to say things I would never tell you to your face. Like how beautiful you are. You're going to say I'm remembering wrong, but I can still picture your face perfectly. The brightness in your eyes and the color in your cheeks when you've finished flying." As their relationship develops they are able to confide in each other about the terrible things they've witnessed, what they consider shameful instances of cowardice or weakness. Their letters soon use terms of endearment; Pasha calls Valka, "Valyushka" and she begins calling him Pashenka.

Both characters are deeply affected by their war experiences. At the death of Rudenko, Pasha reveals a compassion and tender side, writing to Valka, "He was my closest friend in the whole squad and he'd died cold and scared and hurting. I don't know where he is now or what he's feeling, but I hope that he went to be with his God."  When Pashkevich shoots two young German soldiers, Pasha wonders if he would have had the courage to do differently. "I could make excuses. I could say this wasn't my place to say anything or that it wouldn't have made any difference. But the truth is that he was hurting them and I was afraid that if I tried to stop him, he would hurt me. Or worse, give me the pistol." Pasha believes that if he was ordered to shoot the Germans he would have done it out of fear.

Likewise, Valka wonders at how war had changed her too. She notices that she has become desensitized to killing. "...I've killed people. I know I have. Some as evil as Hitler. Others, maybe, an innocent as you. It bothers me less than it should. The details are hidden from me. I don't know how many casualties I've caused, whether they died quickly or whether their deaths were long and lingering. Without knowing, without having to see my handiwork up close, it's easy to put it from my mind, easy to laugh and sing with my friends as we head back to the village at the end of a good night. I haven't  told the others how effortless I've found it to become a killer. I'm afraid of what it says about me." 

Later on Valka writes to Pasha on how they had no idea what they were getting into. She writes, "War is not natural for women -- that's what the other girls say.  We are made to create and nurture life, and to destroy it goes against our fundamental nature. They're right that war is unnatural, but I think of you singing or quietly reading and it seems to me that nobody could be less suited for combat than you....No one should find war easy. "

As Valka recovers from her serious burn injuries and is left with burn scars, she notes, "This war had put its mark on me. I'd never be able to put it behind me when it was over, not now that the reminder was physically stamped on my body." 

In the Rzhev salient, the screaming rockets whose sound Pasha describes as "blindingly bright, yet black, pure jet black" terrify Pasha. "I retreated to the far end of our dugout and huddled there, trembling, my eyes squeezed shut and my arms covering my head." Before battle, Pasha, faced with possible death, finally sends Valka a letter in which he confesses his love for her. "I love, Valyushka. I have since I was a child. You're everything I'm not: daring when I'm afraid, bright and hopeful when I'm despondent, willing to fly across a country to pursue your dreams while I helplessly wait for the inevitable."  His feelings of love mirror Valka's own which she demonstrates when she risks her life and her career to rescue Pasha from the Rzhev salient.

Katz has stated that she learned Russian in order to access primary sources for her research before writing Among The Red Stars. Her detailed research is evident as Among The Red Stars is a well-written, engaging novel that provides a realistic portrayal both of war and of the Soviet female pilots. Many of the characters in the novel have depth and Katz takes the effort to develop the relationship between various characters.

Among The Red Stars offers many themes to explore including courage, the role of women in war, the effect of war on soldiers and pilots and the Stalin regime which seems all but forgotten today. This novel is one of the best historical fiction novels written for teens in the past two years. Well worth the read.

Image credits:

Polikarpov U-2 biplane: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Po-2.jpg

Marina Raskova: https://thefemalesoldier.com/blog/marina-raskova  

Book Details:

Among The Red Stars by Gwen C. Katz
New York: HarperTeen       2017
376 pp.

Breaking Stalin's Nose by Eugene Yelchin

Sasha Zaichik lives with his father in a one room apartment in a komunalka, a communal apartment. They share a kitchen and toilet with forty-eight Soviet citizens. His father works in the State Security on Lubyanka Square. The State Security is the secret police working to expose and eliminate enemies of the Communist state. Considered one the best, Sasha's father has been given the order of the Red Banner by Stalin. Convinced of the superiority of the Communist state, Sasha wants to join the Young Pioneers, his first step towards following his father. He will finally become a Young Pioneer at a rally to be held the next day. His father has been invited to the ceremony as a guest of honor to tie the scarves of the Young Pioneers.

However, things do not go as planned when one of the residents of their komunalka, Stukachov, reports Sasha's father to the Secret Police and he is taken away in the middle of the night. Sasha is put out into the cold October night after Stukachov and his family immediately take over Sasha and his father's room.

Determined not to miss school and his Young Pioneer ceremony, Sasha shows up the next day convinced that his father will be set free to attend the ceremony. Despite his father's arrest, Sasha remains firmly devoted to the Communist ideals and to his beloved Stalin. But things go from bad to worse when Sasha breaks the nose off of Stalin's statue in the school. This is a serious offense - the damaging of Communist property that is punishable by death.

Terrified, Sasha hides in the washroom only to learn that a fellow classmate has seen him commit the offense. It turns out this classmate is Vovka Sobakin, whose father was executed as a traitor. When Sasha and Vovka return to their class, the teacher attempts to learn who committed the offense by ordering the students to write who they think might be implicated. This of course terrifies the students who have no idea who broke the statue. The teacher warns them that if they do not implicate someone, they themselves will be implicated, setting before them an impossible situation. Sasha watches as students are forced to choose between self-preservation and doing what it right. Within the span of two days, he goes from being unquestionably devoted to the Communist ideals to realizing that they are non-existent. He no longer wants to be a Young Pioneer.

Discussion

In Breaking Stalin's Nose, Eugene Yelchin portrays the paranoia of 1950's Soviet Union and the Great Terror that comprised Joseph Stalin's dictatorship through the eyes of a ten-year-old boy. His pencil drawings help portray some of the main themes this short novel touches on.

Breaking Stalin's Nose provides young readers some idea of what it is like to live under a totalitarian government, where individual freedoms do not matter. Devotion to the state is paramount, but that even that might not be enough. 

Sasha lives in a country in which even children can be killed for the most innocent mistakes, where people are too afraid to speak the truth because it will lead to imprisonment or death, and where paranoia and fear rule every aspect of life. Readers, through Sasha, will be asked to consider the use of propaganda, the role of social responsibility and the functioning of a justice system which uses guilt by association as a means of controlling people.

The author, Eugene Yelchin grew up in the Soviet Union in the 1960's. His father survived the Great Terror and was a devoted Communist Party member. Yelchin left his homeland and now resides in the United States.

Book Details:
Breaking Stalin's Nose by Eugene Yelchin
New York: Henry Holt and Company        2011
151 pp.