Book Description

Written as a narrative, this is a true story of this period in history when thousands in the Ukraine and Crimea were forced to escape from Stalin's Russia. The author tells it like it was, exposing the myth and propaganda used to cover up what really happened to Lise and her Mennonite Brethren family. The book is full of the life of the times, the inescapable resolution to survive and a passion for freedom. It is told entirely through the lives and actions of the people of Tchongraw, Crimea and Lise Huebert Toews Gerig who escaped in their midst. It employs daily journals from 1917 to 1945 and Lise's words about her spellbinding childhood. Lise's father, Nikolai, urges his pregnant wife to flee Russia, promising that he will find her. One hundred and seventy people of Tchongraw refuse to leave anyone behind and march through the Ukraine singing forbidden hymns. Events are detailed as they affect individual members of Lise's people whose personalities, and the cultures that surround them, bring home the reality of their struggle. Johann is a mystery, Nick Enns walks out of Siberia to hold Mariechen in his arms. Justina defies Stalin's officers. Heroic Elizabeth Koop Huebert empowers her husband's people and places herself in peril to help her children out of Russia. Lise tells us, "Love is all we had, Walter and I. We found each other again in time to say good-bye." Lise becomes a photographer of note in Canada after she is able to emigrate. Her story enriches the literature of these ethnic-German people whose ancestors were among the first Mennonite Brethren of Holland. Publication of this book awaited the freeing of a cousin who was granted Asylum in 1998. I Heard My People Cry has received an award and has been well reviewed. Writer's Digest Certificate of Merit - 2001 Self Published Book Awards I Heard My People Cry, One Family's Escape From Russia Nonfiction: What impressed me most about this book? The heart-felt emotions that come through in the writing. The section describing how the father is taken away, the prison visits, the final departure, were just riveting and so incredibly sad. I doubt anyone could read this without weeping. The time span the book covers is also impressive, detailing the first half of the 20th century in Russia and Europe, touching on the overall political situation while also looking at the very personal stories of a family being pulled along by the tidal wave of history unfolding around it. The photos and maps add wonderfully to the story, bringing faces to the characters and perspective to the places discussed. This is truly an epic work, congratulations. REVIEWS Independent Review EASTERN MENNONITE UNIVERSITY Menno Simons Historical Library July 30, 2003 Floyd L. Downs, Vice President Lenci Studios, Inc. P.O. Box 19206 Fountain Hills, AZ 85269-9206 Dear Mr. Downs; Thank you very much for your letter and the review copy of I Heard My People Cry by Elizabeth Lenci-Downs. We are delighted to add this important book to our library and sincerely appreciate your generosity. Elizabeth's book is a wonderful record of moving, significant experiences of persecuted but courageous persons. It is one more account of a Mennonite family's escape from Stalin's Russia during a time of great hardship. A story rich with human pathos, this compelling book reads like a novel and is very hard to put down. I Heard My People Cry is well organized, providing good historical background and context. The fine collection of varied photographs, the glossary and the appendix add much to the interest and usefulness of the volume. The front cover has a scene that arrests the reader's attention. I am truly impressed by this book. Elizabeth Lenci-Downs is to be congratulated on an outstanding piece of work. Again, thank you for your gift. Best wishes. Sincerely yours, Lois B. Bowman