Indelible Impressions

A Memoir

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From prisoner of war, to academician, to husband and father, Michael Klimenko’s life was one marked by both the heights of joy and depths of adversity. It was in the midst of these adversities that Klimenko experienced the deeper hope in Christ that carried him through the greatest sorrows and brought him the most profound joy. An incredible story of an incredible life, Michael Klimenko’s journey could surely fill three lifetimes.

Born and partly educated in the former Soviet Union, the life of Michael Klimenko was far from ordinary. In his youth he witnessed the heydays of vigorous progress and steady decline of the traditional native life under the Soviet regime. After Germany attacked his country, Klimenko found himself displaced from his homeland while in German captivity. After the war, Klimenko remained in Western occupied Germany, continuing his unfinished education there and in Switzerland. It was during a chance encounter on a train while in Switzerland, that Marianna left an indelible impression on him; one that would change the rest of his life.

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Author Bio

Michael Klimenko was born and partly educated in the former Soviet Union. After witnessing the heyday of the Soviet regime, and being captured as a prisoner of war, Klimenko continued to pursue his education in Western-occupied Germany and Switzerland. After finishing his education, and starting a family with his wife Marianna, he immigrated with his family to the USA in 1960. In the USA, he worked as a professor of Russian literature in American universities, publishing works in German, English, and Russian languages.