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Romanians in history: Anita Nandriș-Cudla, the Bucovina peasant who wrote her memoirs from the Gulagtranslated

August 19, 2026 · 1 min read

Around the age of 70, in the quiet of her house in Mahala, Chernivtsi region, a peasant woman from Bucovina who had attended only three primary classes was writing her memoirs, titled "Memories of Life".

The manuscript, written cleanly and without erasures - as if after dictation, was handed over in 1982 to one of the grandsons, Gheorghe, with the requirement that the story be made known to people - which could be done shortly after the fall of communism, in 1991, under the title "20 years in Siberia. Bukovinian destiny".

A disillusioned narrative "Siberia is not just a place on the map. Siberia is a merciless mother, who takes everything you have and gives you nothing back, except pain and silence", wrote Anita Nandriș-Cudla. With a fluency that would make any writer envious, she recounted her deportation to Siberia with her children, the borderline experiences she had lived at the end of the world, and her return home.

Her odyssey unfolds with an authenticity that compels you to read it in one sitting.

The innate talent and the simplicity of the spirit that decants everything down to the essence created a work that the literary critic Dan C. Mihăilescu compared to the memoirs of Soljenițîn and about which...

Source: Агентство Basilica (română) · Read the full story →

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💬 Comments (4) 🌐 Show original

Ana Matei

I read "20 years in Siberia" a few years ago and I was impressed by how Anita describes Siberia as "a merciless mother who takes everything you have". The fact that she wrote everything cleanly, without any erasure, at almost 70 years old, after only three classes, shows what strength this woman had. Thanks for the article, it reminded me to re-read it.

Margaret Adams

I also read the book a few years ago and the phrase "ruthless mother" stuck in my head exactly as Ana said. What amazed me the most is that he wrote that entire manuscript without a single erasure, at the age of 70, after only three classes. What a force of a woman, indeed.

Валентина Соловьёва

I also read this book about ten years ago, I remember how it describes Siberia as a "ruthless mother". The fact that he wrote the entire manuscript cleanly, without a single erasure, at nearly 70 years old and with only three classes, shows unimaginable strength. Thanks for bringing it up again.

Илья Андреев

I also read this book about five years ago, I remembered how it says that Siberia is "a merciless mother who takes everything you have and gives you nothing back, but pain and silence". The fact that she wrote the whole manuscript clean, without any erasures, at almost 70 years old and with only three classes, shows what a clear mind the woman had. Thanks for bringing it up again.