MovieChat Forums > White Nights (1985) Discussion > Real Americans who immigrated to USSR?

Real Americans who immigrated to USSR?

posted 14 years ago by nitejrny282
3 replies | jump to latest

Does anyone know of any American citizens who immigrated to the Soviet Union in the 60s, 70's, or 80's? (Anytime after Stalin.) And are there any who are still alive and living there today?

Not talking about military scientists or intelligence agents who "defected." Just regular civilians who chose to immigrate, for whatever reason, to the USSR.

I'd love to hear their story. What made them leave... How they imagined the USSR would be... What it was actually like when they got there... How they felt about the fall in '91... And what they think of Putin's Russia today.

[–] Dennis_Cooper 12 years ago

Yeah, Lee Harvey Oswald was one. But he only stayed less than two years before returning to the US.

[–] dkgambler 9 years ago

But he only stayed less than two years before returning to the US.

Plenty of people fall in love with the romanticism of collectivism/communism, then they get hit with the reality of it all. Food lines, power outages, suffering. Time to head back to the evil old USA.

[–] stacy0912 8 years ago

Plenty of people fall in love with the romanticism of collectivism/communism, then they get hit with the reality of it all. Food lines, power outages, suffering. Time to head back to the evil old USA.

As much as I enjoyed my extensive time there, I can't say I would want to go back. As one Russian man had said, 'tourists see Russia through binoculars. They see what they're only allowed to see.'

But to live there, to fend off the criminals, wait in the long lines, take the long way home on foot in the dead of winter because there's less chance of being 'jumped', scavenging around for your next meal--on top of watching your back because you are American and trying to keep that hidden-- well, that's seeing it with real eyes. I was most definitely glad to be home. By the way, this was in '95 and '96. Nightmarish times.

~Keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable~