THE MIDNIGHT KNOCK ON THE DOOR

About the Book

My grandparents were landowners, my family was among the many millions of people directly affected by the impact of Stalin's ruthless land reform. The homestead of my grandparents was in a small village in the southwest part of the Ukraine, about 150 km. from the seaport of Odessa on the Black Sea. My mother died at my birth and my father was away, studying at the University of Kharkov. I lived and was raised by my paternal grandparents. At the time, when Stalin's message of the forced collectivization reached our village, I was six years old and for me the event remained especially memorable, because it coincided with the wedding day of my father's sister.

About the Author

The author was born April23rd, 1923, in Odessa, Ukraine, formally part of the Soviet Union. She was valedictorian of her high school class and went onto the University of Odessa, School of Dentistry. After the war she married Leon R. Witt, a soldier in the U.S. Army, and came to America, raising children Renate and Robert. She had a wonderful influence on her three grandchildren Alex, Jonathan and Cara. Elita Witt passed away in December of 1994.