Word: ruthenia
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Born Ludvik Hoch, Maxwell was the third of nine children of dirt-poor Hasidic Jews living in the eastern slice of Czechoslovakia known as Ruthenia. During World War II, he lost his parents and four siblings in Auschwitz; he escaped by joining the French underground. He had only three years of schooling but was a genius with languages -- he could speak eight by the time he was grown -- and figures. He joined the British forces and in two years transformed himself from a Czech ruffian into a British army officer who was awarded the Military Cross for bravery in charging...