Eight Years on Sakhalin

Andrew A. Gentes is an historian and translator. His publications and translations include The Mass Deportation of Poles to Siberia, 1863–1880 ( 2017) and In the World of the Outcasts: Notes of a Former Penal Laborer (2014).

• Acknowledgements; Introduction, Andrew A. Gentes; A Note on Transliteration and Dates; Glossary of Measurements; Eight Years on Sakhalin: A Political Prisoner’s Memoir, Ivan P. Iuvachëv; Foreword; Part I; I. First impressions of the Sakhalin coast; II. Searching for food; III. Dinner; IV. Meeting the educated exiles; V. The penal laborers’ march to Tymovsk District; VI. Rykovsk settlement; VII. Assignment as a carpenter; VIII. My comrades; IX. The situation in the Tym Valley; X. The warden’s efforts to build a church; XI. Katorga assignments; XII. The difficulty of katorga; XIII. Headmen-executioners; Part II; I. A new assignment; II. A change of situation; III. Preparing the new church for Easter; IV. The temptation of an artless existence; V. Recording Giliak fables; VI. Solitary and general prison confinement; VII. The murder of choirmaster Gennisaretskii; VIII. Morning impressions; IX. Summer jobs; X. The situation of designated homeowners; XI. Meeting penal laborers from the barracks; XII. Catching fish with a hook; XIII. My sailing assignment; XIV. The educated exile Pl.’s farm; Part III; I. Invitation to a seaside stroll; II. Guests of the military commander; III. Preparations for a new journey; IV. Cape Nevelˊskoi; V. Giliaks’ provisions caches; VI. Aboard the steamer Shooter; VII. Korsakovsk Post; VIII. Manué Post; IX. The 1891 Manifesto; X. Katorga’s tragic days; XI. My new manservant; XII. L−‘s retirement and departure; XIII. Leaving Sakhalin; XIV. A visit to Rykovsk settlement; XV. First news in the press about the Onor atrocities; XVI. Situation for educated people on the island.; Part IV; I. The new status of exile-settler; II. My meeting with General Grodekov; III. The exile-settler Elizaveta K; IV. Women on Sakhalin; V. Personal morality’s importance in lifting a man; VI. Losing the most favorable period of life; VII. A trip to Aleksandrovsk Post in winter; VIII. Exiles’ hidden sorrows; IX. Vladivostok under military alert; X. In a grave; XI. Held back!; XII. The governor’s new request; XIII. Sakhalintsy in Vladivostok; XIV. Distance and time make an impression; Bibliography.

“This translation of a political prisoner’s memoir is another excellent work by Gentes dealing with Siberian exile and exiles during Russia’s late tsarist period. It not only sheds light on the Russian exile system during that period, but also has universal significance regarding prisoners everywhere.” —Walter G. Moss, Professor emeritus, Eastern Michigan University, US.