East Wind: A Survivor's True Story of Faith Inside the Gulag of World War II

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East Wind is the incredible story of Maria Zeitner Linke--of her indomitable spirit and courageous faith as she faced the death camps and prisons of Stalin's Russia. "Only one who has felt the nearness of death can truly be grateful for each new day, no matter how much suffering it might bring." Thus speaks Maria Linke, survivor of nine years' imprisonment in the death camps and prisons of Stalin's Russia following World War II. There have been many "God is faithful amid the horrors of war" stories, and although East Wind fits this description, it is far more than just another war story. The unusual aspects of Maria's life make this book so arrestingly different: the winsome portrait of a childhood lived on the banks of the Volga River as the daughter of a wealthy pre-Revolution German industrialist, the tragedy of banishment to Siberia and life among the nomadic tribes there, the flight from a burning Cossack village and escape to Germany during the Russian Revolution, teen years in lively Berlin, World War II and her work as an interpreter in the labor camps of Germany, her arrest as a spy by the advancing Russian armies, miraculous escapes from death, romance, and the infamous Waldeheim trials. Nine years in a Soviet prison camp would seem an eternity to most of us. For Maria, it was an investment in eternity. This is the true story of Maria Zeitner Linke--a story of survival and courage in the death camps of Stalin's Gulag after World War II. But more than that, it is the story of how one woman turned her sorrow into an opportunity for growth, ministry, and strengthened commitment to Jesus Christ. In nine years, Maria moved through six different camps, including the infamous Buchenwald, which the Soviets had taken over from the Nazis after the war. In the process, Maria touched the lives of many people and helped them turn their own mourning into dancing. This book, which will remind many readers of the works of Corrie ten Boom and Alexander Solzhenitsyn, offers encouragement and hope to anyone who has ever wondered, "How would I react if my faith were really put to the test?" It comes to terms with the true meaning of practicing patience in tribulation. East Wind is a powerful book. Historically, its scope is broad. Spiritually, its impact is tremendous. It will be a long time before you find another story that will move you as much as Maria's.