Journey Into The Whirlwind Analysis
Journey Into the Whirlwind, a memoir written by Evgeniia Ginzburg, shines incredible light onto what took place during Stalin’s reign of terror. She takes the reader from before she was even arrested, through her entire trial, and then into the labor camp. Although it really opens eyes to what truly took place there is still room the question the validity of the story told by Mrs. Ginzburg.
Eugenia Ginzburg was officially prosecuted for acts of terrorism. She was told by officials that she was being charged with the murder of Kirov and when she told told them she was never in Leningrad they responded by saying to her, “it was your accomplices who killed him, and that makes you morally and criminally responsibly”. It’s clear that she truly had nothing to do with his murder, yet there was no getting out of it. For this Ginzburg was given “ten …show more content…
To begin with, every single person experiences life differently. If there are a handful of people in a room when an event occurs and each is asked to describe what happened, most people will fixate on different things. It doesn’t mean any of these are not true, but historians can’t get the full story from just one individual. Another issue with a memoir, especially one as torturous as Journey Into the Whirlwind, is they are biased. What Eugenia Ginzburg went through was unfathomable, but at the same time her view is probably slightly skewed because of her position in this situation. It would be important to compare this memoir to one written by someone on the other side, such as a warden, interrogator or judge. Although it gives phenomenal insight into what the people subject to Stalin’s terror had to deal with for years, it can’t be trusted as a stand alone historic source. Even if it can’t be used to develop a final picture of what happened, memoirs can at least open doors or bring to light something new that can be looked for in other historical
Eugenia Ginzburg was officially prosecuted for acts of terrorism. She was told by officials that she was being charged with the murder of Kirov and when she told told them she was never in Leningrad they responded by saying to her, “it was your accomplices who killed him, and that makes you morally and criminally responsibly”. It’s clear that she truly had nothing to do with his murder, yet there was no getting out of it. For this Ginzburg was given “ten …show more content…
To begin with, every single person experiences life differently. If there are a handful of people in a room when an event occurs and each is asked to describe what happened, most people will fixate on different things. It doesn’t mean any of these are not true, but historians can’t get the full story from just one individual. Another issue with a memoir, especially one as torturous as Journey Into the Whirlwind, is they are biased. What Eugenia Ginzburg went through was unfathomable, but at the same time her view is probably slightly skewed because of her position in this situation. It would be important to compare this memoir to one written by someone on the other side, such as a warden, interrogator or judge. Although it gives phenomenal insight into what the people subject to Stalin’s terror had to deal with for years, it can’t be trusted as a stand alone historic source. Even if it can’t be used to develop a final picture of what happened, memoirs can at least open doors or bring to light something new that can be looked for in other historical