A headshot photo of Evan Gershkovich
Evan Gershkovich in a file photo supplied by The Wall Street Journal.
  • The WSJ reporter detained in Moscow is reportedly reading a famous anti-Soviet novel.
  • His choice of book could be viewed as a subtle jab at the Kremlin and its repressive policies.
  • The book, which equated crimes of the Nazis and the Soviets, was written by a Ukrainian Jew.

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich's reported choice of book as he sits in an infamous ex-KGB prison in Moscow could be viewed as a symbolic jab at Russian President Vladimir Putin's increasingly authoritarian government and Soviet-style crackdown on free speech.