Karelia, a U.S.S.R. republic bordering Finland, was hailed as the "workers' paradise" in the 1930s. In 1934, Lauri and Sylvi Hokkanen, along with thousands of other Finns from the United States and Canada, were recruited by the Russians to come to Karelia, bringing with them American technology and thought. But the Stalin purges of 1937 and 1938 cost many of these immigrants their lives. Lauri and Sylvi escaped, returned to the United States and,...