Complex sentence: Zhivago's family arrives at Varykino, only to learn that their house has been boarded up with a sign indicating confiscation by the Soviet State, a.k.a. "the people".
Split into simpler sentences: Zhivago's family arrives at Varykino, only to learn that their house has been boarded. A sign indicates confiscation by the Soviet State, a.k.a. "The People".