The Russian-born Lev Kopelev, a disillusioned communist, was something of a legend in Germany where he was invited to give lectures at many universities. But in his homeland he was a victim of multiple Soviet political campaigns, later denounced as a traitor, and forgotten.
Lev Zinovyevich Kopelev was born on April 9, 1912 to a Jewish family living in Kiev, then part of the Russian Empire. In his youth, Kopelev was a communist ideologue. Several years later, the revolution of 1917 indeed brought communism to power in Russia.
