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Gelich
Dear Reader,
I would like to share a bit of history with you. My late father, Abram Isidorovich Gelich, dedicated over twenty-five years to the creation of this monumental six-volume work. He continued to work on it until his death in 1977 at the age of 76.
His journey was fraught with challenges, as he had to re-create his manuscript after burning the original just in time to evade arrest by the KGB in 1950. This was his second arrest, resulting in a lifetime sentence of exile in Siberia. Prior to this, he spent eight harrowing years from 1937 to 1945 in the GULAG, where the mortality rate was around 80%. During his imprisonment, he was often on the brink of death, enduring 14-hour shifts in mines and engaging in road and canal construction, all while surviving on scant daily rations of soup with a few fish bones and 400-600 grams of bread that even the cattle refused to eat.
The second manuscript was almost lost again in 1973, shortly after I emigrated from the USSR to the West. The KGB, aided by an informant, located and confiscated it. Fortunately, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, my family was fortunate enough to retrieve the manuscript from KGB archives and send it to me here in London.
In addition to his literary efforts, my father was a brilliant chemical engineer who played a significant role in establishing the industrial base of the former Soviet Union. He founded several engineering institutions during his career.
His multi-volume work covers numerous aspects of the former Soviet Union's industry, agriculture, history, and even literature and culture, all from a unique perspective that I believe is unlike that of any other researcher, scientist, economist, or writer.
Regrettably, my father’s writing style and language present challenges for translation into other languages. As a result, only well-educated native Russian speakers familiar with the complexities of life in the former USSR can fully appreciate and comprehend his work.
In conclusion, I apologize for the numerous typographical errors and omissions present in this work, which were introduced during the proofreading and publishing stages.
Welcome to my father's universe,
Victor Abram Gelich