She was born in 1902 and died in 1987. She lived through the Russian revolution, the civil war and the famine of 1921-22 that killed her father. Then there was the second world war, and finally glasnost and perestroika. Her name was Bertha Urievna Solodukhina and her life was a constant struggle. She endured antisemitic abuse, homelessness and a string of precarious jobs as she tried to raise a son alone.

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