The Power of Teshuva
An interview with Rabbi Yosef Mendelevich
From the essay
My father and mother received a Jewish education in Latvia before the Second World War. But they believed that Communism was the future of the world. Therefore, they did not observe commandments or traditions. While Stalin effectively erased the practice of Judaism, there were still beautiful synagogues, but only the elderly attended them. Children and youth knew nothing about Judaism because all Jewish schools were closed. There was only the system of government education and they taught us that there is no God.
Adapted from PDF pages 1.