Growing up Russian in China (ePub)

The central motif of this unique historical memoir is the life of the authors family in
Dairen (now Dalian) during the Japanese occupation, then the Soviet occupation, and,
finally, under the Chinese Communist Government. Ms. Erohina gave the background
of the historical events which affected the lives of the Russians, the Chinese, and the
Japanese during the Second World War and the postwar years.
She explains why the Russians lived in China, and how they not only preserved their
culture and language but contributed greatly to the fields of science, music, and
literature. Some lived there at the turn of the 20th Century as businessmen, and many
came to Manchuria (now Northeast of the Peoples Republic of China) during the
railway construction, which was a branch of the Trans-Siberian Railroad. The majority,
however, came as refugees fleeing from the Bolsheviks during the Civil War that
immediately followed the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. Th e Civil War split the people
into the Reds, or the Bolsheviks, and the Whites, who apposed them. The authors
grandparents were among the refugees.
Ms. Erohina described her familys move to Shanghai in 1954 as a transit point for the
departure from China, and gave a detailed account of its early and postwar years, and its
impact on the lives of Russian migrs. Then, followed the familys journey as refugees
by sea from China via Hong Kong and many ports from Singapore to South Africa, and
then to Brazil. She touched upon their life in Sao Paulo, Brazil in 1950s, and then their
trip 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 raised
in NE China, lived in Brazil, and came to this country in 1958. She has an M.A. in
literature from Ohio State University. When she retired, she wrote her unique historical
memoir Growing Up Russian in China. She lives in Southern California.