Markovits Rodion - Szibériai garnizon (2021)

Jaroslav Ha¹ek ©vejk, a derék katona and Erich Maria Remarque's novels The situation is unchanged in the West are mentioned on one page of the Siberian Garrison, first published in Cluj-Napoca in 1927, which sold millions of copies.
Markovits Rodion (1884-1948), a journalist with a law degree, wrote his collective reportage based on his own experiences and those of his former soldiers about the struggles of the First World War, the everyday life of a seven-year prisoner of war in Eastern Siberia, and the hardships of returning home. Not only the topic, but also the way it was written - the story told from the point of view of the little man creates an absurd and satirical effect, while never being didactic or judgmental - resulted in an explosive success: due to the huge reader interest, the publisher barely managed to reprint the book; in two years it was published in fourteen countries and translated into, among others, German, English, French, Italian, Chinese, Finnish, Dutch and Romanian. It has been a sought-after work abroad, for example in Italy, but it was forgotten for a few decades in our country for political reasons.
Time has not harmed the vitality of the language and vision of the Siberian Garrison, as it has also made the historical and existential approach contained in it contemporary - classical.