Jacques Rossi

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Photo and documents by Jacques Rossi from the NorilLag (2016)

Jacques Rossi , actually Franciszek Ksawery Heyman (born October 10, 1909 in Wroclaw , † June 30, 2004 in Paris ) was a Polish - French political activist and writer .

Life

Rossi lost his parents early. After the death of his father, the mother remarried. Rossi's stepfather owned some estates in eastern Poland, so the boy had the opportunity to get a good education. He also grew up multilingual, as the real father was from Italy and the mother from Alsace . He also learned Russian and Chinese.

During his high school days he discovered communism , which he became enthusiastic about from then on. With his education and his multilingualism, he recommended himself to the Comintern's intelligence service and operated primarily in France, Germany and the Soviet Union . In 1937 he was sent to Spain in the civil war as a cipher , but after just under two weeks he was ordered back to Moscow . There he was arrested and charged with espionage for various European countries. As a political prisoner , he was subsequently imprisoned in the NorilLag corrective labor camp .

After almost twenty years, he was released in 1956 and moved to France. He wrote several books about his time in captivity, including his lexicographical "Guide to the Gulag". The work originally written in Russian ( Справочник по ГУЛАГу ) was translated into English ( The Gulag Handbook ) and then transferred back into Russian. It has become a standard work on the history, structure and language of the Gulag .

Works

  • Jacques Rossi: The Gulag Handbook . A Historical Dictionary of Soviet Penitentiary Institutions and Terms Related to the Forced Labor Camps, With a Preface by Alain Besancon, Overseas Publications Interchange Ltd, London 1987
  • Жак Росси: Справочник по ГУЛАГу . М .: Просвет, 1991, Ч. 1., 269 стр. (Преступление и наказание в мировой практике). Russian translation of the above English original.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Rossi, Jacques
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Polish-French political activist and writer
DATE OF BIRTH October 10, 1909
PLACE OF BIRTH Wroclaw
DATE OF DEATH June 30, 2004
Place of death Paris