Présentation de l'éditeur :
This is an authentic first-hand story of a young female Soviet defector who made a choice to risk her life rather than to become a KGB informant and honey trap in Havana during the publicly unknown second Cuban missile crisis beginning in 1969. The authors draw back the Cuban/Soviet curtain on an undisclosed Soviet navy nuclear confrontation lasting 20 years with the United States and on the cover-up by the American Government of an aggressive undercover spy war with Fidel Castro - the world's most idiosyncratic, brilliant, but obsessively vindictive megalomaniacal leader. Standing at the crossroads of autobiography and history, The Sea is Only Knee Deep presents an intimate and bittersweet portrait of the coming of age of a fiercely independent Jewish girl, raised by her father, a former sea captain, in the Black Sea city of Odessa, Ukraine during and after Stalin’s last decade of Soviet power. Interwoven with her childhood narrative of a streetwise kid, deftly dodging the suffocating strictures of Communist tyranny, is a Cold War thriller arising from Paulina’s personal involvement with a top secret Soviet submarine base in Cuba. This submarine base operated out of Cuba: in Cienfuegos, at the military airport for Soviet bombers with nuclear warhead missiles in San Antonio de Los Baños, and at the world's largest Soviet SIGINT (Radio/Electronic/Satellite Spy Center) operated in Lourdes, Cuba from the late sixties up to 1992-2001. The base was home to a fleet of Soviet nuclear subs armed with ballistic and cruise missiles with nuclear warheads aimed at America. Concealed from the Western public and hidden beneath the ocean, this Soviet submarine base served as a major nuclear arms missile platform in the backyard of the United States where it operated secretly and in defiance of international treaties for over two decades. Domestic political considerations during the Vietnam War kept the US Government silent. Paulina was not involved in the operation of these facilities, only in their design. When in 1971 KGB attempted to force her hand, she defected with her two young children to Canada in an incredible feat of courage and audacity. Paulina returned to the Soviet Union in 1987 to help to forge the cooperation between Soviet and American submarine builders during Perestroika. Paulina concludes in her arguments that the main strategy of the current Russian Government is to attain global dominion, naturally prioritizing it in the Arctic which is absolutely strategically important for Russia in military and economic terms. The "sabre-rattling" strategy adopted by the current Russian government not just in Arctic but also in the Gulf of Mexico is directed toward military intimidation of their Arctic neighbors in order to maintain full military control and develop Arctic resources without interference from other Arctic neighbors. The nuclear deterrent cycle is about to repeat once again with Russian government rebuilding its previously abandoned military bases in Cuba and once again secretly sending its navy equipped with nuclear missiles to Cuba. The threatening rhetoric promising nuclear alienation in Russian state media and television is a planned Cold War confrontation intended to calm down the objections to actions of Russians in the Arctic. The ambitions of current Russian state are global and totalitarian and the methods correspond to envisioned objectives.
Présentation de l'éditeur :
A literate and beautifully written account of a Jewish girl growing up in Stalin's Russia and Castro’s Cuba. Her creative approach to the problems of survival and achievement under rigid dictatorships is an example of women's determination and achievement. Paulina's personal crisis came after a violent rape attempt by her Soviet supervisor at work. This moment became a powerful motivator to overcome obstacles and demonstrated the power and potential of the human spirit. Finding herself embroiled in a Cold War drama on the Island of Cuba where Soviet and American military forces are vying for supremacy during a secret nuclear confrontation, Paulina decided on a dangerous escape to freedom with her two small children rather than become an obedient slave and an informant for a cruel and rogue tyrannical state. When in 1970 the KGB attempted to conscript Paulina as an informant, she defected with her two young children to Canada in a bizarre feat of courage and audacity. This episode is sure to elevate your heart rate. Who said that women are the weaker sex? She enacted the assertion of "I am mad as hell, and I am not going to take it anymore" and despite the long odds, succeeded. She became the only defector from a communist country that made such an escape with small children in Gander, Newfoundland, Canada. A seemingly discouraging and difficult situation for a young, penniless immigrant with two small children did not prevent Paulina from rapidly adjusting to a new country. She re-established herself professionally and even brought her parents to Canada 4 years later. Paulina's family proudly integrated into Canadian society. Her boys graduated from Canadian universities as scientists. They became confident, responsible, and independent individuals in the entrepreneurial hi-tech sector. Paulina's memoir provides a highly motivational reading for young girls who are considering a professional career. It is remarkable how this first-hand story of a young female Soviet defector is relevant to the current global situation regarding the Russian Navy, which replaced the Soviet Navy with the obsessive aim of nuclear dominance in the Atlantic ocean, as well as in the Arctic.
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