Vil"iam Arturovich Smit, a Russian professor of chemistry, remembers his parents and his life. His father Artur Lehel was born in Austro-Hungary, participated in the 1919 Hungarian revolution, emigrated to America in 1920 where he soon joined the Communist party and changed his last name to Smith. In 1928 he emigrated to Russia, where he joined the Professional International and late Comintern. He escaped death during Stalin"s terror by a miracle, and remained not just a hard core but rather a religious communist. The book also describes the main phases and spiritual evolution of the author.