About the book: 2009 / The Berg family are the only fictional characters in the novel. Everything else - both people and events - is real and reflects the historical truth of the first two decades of Soviet Russia. The storylines intersect with the history of the Bergs, which is why the book can be called a “history novel.” In the first book, Pavel Berg takes part in the Civil War, and then enters the Institute of Red Professorship: in a short time, a young man from a poor Jewish family becomes a professor, a specialist in military history. But the family’s well-being is suddenly cut short, and difficult times set in. The Berg family is divided: the country is in the midst of rampant Stalinist repressions. War breaks into the lives of the novel's heroes. Jews go through the incredible suffering of the Holocaust. After the victory in the war, contrary to expectations, a wave of anti-Semitism grows: Maria and Lila Berg have to experience more and more humiliations. After Stalin’s death, the family is finally reunited, but, apparently, not for long. The second book, “The Cup of Suffering,” tells about this period».