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Witness History: Black in the USSR

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Black in the USSR

20/06/2016 GMT

BBC World Service - Witness History, Black in the USSR

Robert Robinson, a black American engineer, spent 43 years in the USSR against his will.

Robert Robinson, an African American engineer, was recruited to work in the USSR in 1930. Having lost his US citizenship, he spent 43 years unable to leave.

Robert Robinson, a Jamaican born engineer, was recruited to work in the USSR from a factory in Detroit in 1930. Having had his US citizenship revoked, he spent 43 years unable to leave the Soviet Union. Dina Newman tells his story, using BBC archive. 

(Photo: Robert Robinson in the 1920s. Source: BBC archive)

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