Ingrid Popa Fotino

Rebirth Ingrid Popa Fotino

Ingrid Popa Fotino presents a window into the workings of the Soviet Union in a suspenseful drama of escape, survival, and achievement with a startling ending. Born in Romania in 1940, Ingrid experienced the Soviet occupation of her country and the regime of terror it imposed. As a nine-year-old prisoner facing the possibility of execution, she encountered hope, despair, and finally acceptance. Her perilous escape with her parents and her little sister led eventually to a new and fulfilling life in the United States but not to relief from the Soviet grip that even extended across the Atlantic. The spectacular fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989, followed by the collapse of the Soviet Union two years later, allowed Romania to be free again after more than 40 years of almost total isolation from the world outside the Soviet sphere. Ingrid, together with all the refugees in the East European diaspora, could reconnect at last with her family of birth and the world she lost at age 8. It felt like discovering that there is life after death: a rebirth. In Rebirth, Ingrid Popa Fotino vividly recalls her life experiences. Her purpose in writing this book is to expose the grievous effects of the Soviet Union in her lifetime, especially when Russian President Vladimir Putin bemoans its collapse. The moving combination of historical and personal narratives, particularly regarding the repercussions of Soviet Communism on both sides of the Atlantic, is the focus of her story.