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Journey Into Freedom : One Family's Real-Life Drama |
by Edith Elisabeth Friesen |
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...an intimate and breathtaking story of courage, family love, unshakable faith and cunning survival strategies that combines Soviet and Mennonite history |
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readers’ comments |
book reviews |
excerpts |
from the author |
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readers comments
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| “…an original story…true and well told. I found it hard to put down.” – Harry Loewen, Professor Emeritus of History and Mennonite Studies |
| “There is a ring of honesty throughout the whole story. My heart was in my mouth during the narrow escapes.” – Katherine Martens, coauthor of In her Own Voice: Childbirth Stories from Mennonite Women |
| “The experiences you captured made the book so relevant, especially to people who came through that period in history. The historical aspects are invaluable to the generations to come! Not just to people of Mennonite heritage. You gave answers to those who shall ask: what was life like, their thoughts their feelings?” – Marguerite Bergmann, Winnipeg |
| “… a sensitively guided, intriguing conversation.” – Royden Loewen, Chair in Mennonite Studies, University of Winnipeg |
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book reviews |
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“…tells a story we thought we knew, in a new and very readable way.” – Helen Rose Pauls, Roots and Branches, Newsletter of the Mennonite Historical Society of BC |
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| “…reads like a courtroom drama…” – Betti Erb, Canadian Mennonite |
| “…research into the history of that time is thorough and adds much to the dialogue,” – Susan Brandt, MB Herald |
| “…brings a tear to the eye; it vividly captures the brutality of communist and fascist system in the images of a starting and dislocated humanity, the horrors of concentration and death camps and finally the refugee camps and struggles to reach a new land.” – Doris Penner, The Carillon |
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excerpts |
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From Part One: Survival’s Edge |
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Imagine this.
It is a cold night in December. The wind howls and snow swirls on the ground. Here in the farming village of Rosenort, land of Ukraine, Soviet Union.
A young mother stands in the middle of the road, shivering. She holds a baby in her arms while four young children huddle around her, pulling at her coat for comfort.
Moments ago, she was forced out of her home by the authorities. All of her furniture, personal belongings, and household goods were confiscated and carted away. And now she has lost everything, even the right to work.
It was inevitable. This is 1931 and she is an outlaw in Stalin’s regime. Yet she still has the freedom to breathe. Perhaps her husband has lost even that. A few months ago he was arrested and deported to a forced labour camp in the Far North. He had been branded an enemy of the people, which makes her one too. Thrown into the belly of the Great Famine, forbidden to earn a living, how will she feed her children?
She will struggle alone. Yet not alone, because this has happened before, will happen to millions more.
But on this night, it is only she, shivering in the wind and snow and darkness, with four starving children and a baby. Braced by her faith and her will to survive.
She takes a deep breath. |
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From Chapter 1: Red Coat |
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ANNE: I was six years old the night my childhood came crashing down.
It was a cold winter night in 1931. The Communists drove a big wagon up to our house. Then they marched into the house and took everything. Our furniture, everything. At first they said they wouldn’t touch the children’s clothing. But when they saw our clothes…well, just before he was taken away, my dad had bought us beautiful winter coats, Lydia and me. They took Lydia’s coat and tried to take mine too. Quickly I shoved my arm into the sleeve and ran away. Then I heard them say: If you don’t give up your coat, we will take your mother away. So I came out of hiding and gave them my beautiful red coat. They chased us out of our house, in the middle of winter. Can you imagine? My mother had four young children and a small baby in her arms. I will never forget that scene. Standing on the wide street. The ground so white with snow. |
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from the author
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“Growing up as a Mennonite and a first generation Canadian, I heard the most incredible stories from my mother. True stories about danger and daring escapes that seemed more like movies than real life. While telling these stories, my mother would try to explain what it meant to be a fugitive, a refugee and an immigrant. Then, in the same breath, she would talk about freedom. Not just freedom in the outside world, but also inner freedom. I listened but didn’t really understand. |
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Then in 1997 my mother and I travelled to Ukraine and visited the places of her childhood. I will always remember walking arm-in-arm with her, along the dirt road in the village where she was born, and watching the tears streaming down her face. That’s when her story grabbed me by the throat, and wouldn’t let go. As I began writing, I realized that this wasn’t just the story of one person, one family or one group of people. This was the story of millions of people caught in the sweep of Ukraine’s Great Famine, Stalin’s Terror and World War II. It was about terrible times that brought out the worst and the best in people.
There was a time when my family’s background was a source of embarrassment to me. Growing up in the 1950s it was unpopular, at least in my schoolyard, to be the German-speaking daughter of a Soviet immigrant. Writing this story helped me make peace with my inheritance. It has also turned my work in a new direction. Building upon a varied writing career in journalism, public relations and marketing, I now encourage others to write. Sometimes I team up with other (Two Prairie Muses; Three Wise Women) to give workshops. I also present the story of Journey Into Freedom in a multi-media format.
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