The works of artist Nikolai Getman, based upon his experiences as a prisoner in the infamous Soviet GULAG from 1946 through 1954, are available on-line at the Jamestown Foundation. The interplay of natural beauty and human suffering is amazingly captured in these paintings. I found myself recalling portions of Solzhenitsyn's The GULAG Archipelago and One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch. In particular, look for the painting depicting the Japanese-Russian (Buddhist-Orthodox) funeral. I think there may be a lesson for us in the circumstances experienced there. (No, I'm not an ecumenist!)
My thanks to the folks at Samizdata.net; where I first ran across the story and link to the Jamestown Foundation.
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