Actually, the Bolsheviks took over during the 1917 Russian revolution if I recall correctly, so the Communists were already the ruling party at the time this story began, or so it would seem.
Since it also mentions the year 1936, part of this story takes place 3 years before WW2 began in September of 1939 when Germany began Operation Fall Weiss (sp?)
Either way, be it this family, or the myriads of Jews who were exiled to Siberia prior to and after WW2, we're talking about people who literally fell through the cracks of history as they were totally forgotten about. It's interesting to be sure, but also very heartbreaking.