World Cultures class was learning about the Soviet Union as part of our joint-curriculum initiative with English and Social Studies, as they read Animal Farm in English they learn the historical background in Social Studies.  We studied the Communist Revolution and Stalin's takeover, and what life was like for the average person in the Stalin and post-Stalin era of the USSR.  Mrs. Adelsky was born in the USSR, and was 5 years old when Stalin died.  She talked with our class about what her childhood was like in the Soviet school system.  She discussed the unique challenges of going to a school that taught with a pro-Soviet agenda, while her family life was (at least in private) not in line with mainstream Soviet belief.  For her as a child, this was very confusing, having to choose between her teacher's version of truth and her families'.  She also discussed the challenge of being Jewish: she had to be the best in her class to get into university, as they had quotas on the number of Jews admitted.  She told us some old Russian jokes and talked about how she spent time (ice-skating was big for her) and how she hated mandatory summer camps.