Jacques Rossi

Jacques Rossi ( Franciszek Ksawery Heyman ) ( born October 10, 1909 in Breslau, † 2004 ) was a Polish-French political activist and writer.

Life

Rossi lost his parents early. After his father's death the mother married again. Rossi's stepfather had some goods in eastern Poland, so the boy had the opportunity of a good education. He also grew up multilingual, because the real father from Italy and the mother came from Alsace. In addition, he was still learning Russian and Chinese.

During his high school years he discovered communism, for which he was enthusiastic about from now on. Using his education and his multilingualism he recommended himself to the secret intelligence service of the Comintern and acted mainly in France, Germany and the Soviet Union. In 1937 he was sent as Chiffreur to Spain in the Civil War, but recalled to Moscow after almost two weeks. There he was arrested and accused of spying for various European countries. As a political prisoner, he was then sent to a gulag.

After nearly twenty years he was free in 1956 and moved to France. About his time in captivity, he wrote several books, including in Russian a "Guide to the Gulag ."

Works

• Jacques Rossi: The Gulag Handbook. A Historical Dictionary of Soviet Penitentiary Institutions and Terms Related to the Forced Labour Camps, With a Preface by Alain Besancon, Overseas Publications Interchange Ltd., London 1987
• Жак Росси: Справочник по ГУЛАГу. М. Просвет, 1991 Ч. 1, 269 стр. ( Преступление и наказание в мировой практике ). Russian translation of the above English original.