Georgy Malenkov was a Soviet politician who worked closely with Joseph

Stalin during the time of his purges, and succeeded Stalin as a major
authority of the USSR. He had many important positions and
responsibilities in the Soviet Union throughout his life until he was expelled
from the Communist party in the late 1950’s.

Many Russians had mixed opinions in regards to Malenkov. While he did a

good job in his earlier positions, such as records, his involvements in
Stalin’s purges hurt his reputation. The people were hesitant to entrust him
with the power that he assumed from Stalin. He was exiled from the party
after two years of leadership.

Another famous Soviet was Sergei Prokofiev, a composer who started

creating music at a very young age. He was considered a child prodigy,
and he wrote his very first score when he was only five years old, and he
first publicly performed when he was only seventeen. Throughout his life,
he performed in many different countries with a large selection of music.

By 1945 he was so highly regarded that he was considered to be the best

musician of the Soviet Union. Even today, he is believed to be one of the
most brilliant musicians of his time. In all, he created over 30 works, two of
his most popular being the ballet of “Romeo and Juliet”, and the children’s
symphony, “Peter and the Wolf”.

The Communist bloc, also known as the Eastern bloc, refers to the
communist countries of the Soviet Union, East Germany, Czechoslovakia,
Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, and Romania, among others. These countries
were converted to Communism during and after WWII, and remained that
way until the fall of the Soviet Union in 1989.
The world became polarized between free democratic countries like the
US, and Communist countries like the USSR. The differences in ideals
resulted in many problems, such as the Cold War. Communism also
suppressed religion, sometimes resulting in the demolition of churches,
such as the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral shown here.

Roy Campanella was an American baseball player who was born in

Philadelphia in 1921. He played catcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers in the
1950s until he was paralyzed in a car accident that ended his career early.
Because he was the son of a Sicilian father and an African-American
mother, he had initial problems playing in the major leagues due to his
ethnicity.

Campanella is known for being one of the first African-American players to

break the color barrier in the major leagues, along with his contemporary,
Jackie Robinson. He became the first African-American catcher in MLB
history, and he is also widely believed to be one of the best catchers in the
history of baseball.