AUTHOR

MJ KRAUSE-CHIVERS

Until my teens, I knew little about my Mennonite grandparents refugee journey. Like many kids from difficult backgrounds, I was embarrassed by both our poverty and my family's old-country ways. Then, I failed to appreciate my grandparents' sacrifices. During the civil war, they fled Russian controlled Ukraine for an unknown destiny and a better future for their descendants. They gave up everything so I could have anything.

Faith was a regular part of my early life and included daily prayer, Bible reading, memorizing scripture and attending weekly Sunday School and church services. My Mennonite parents were deeply concerned for the salvation of souls. Religious education was ingrained into every aspect of our waking life.

As a teen, I rebelled against the ethnic culture. But at nineteen, I bowed to the pressure of an early and traditional marriage. My first husband was both a Mennonite and a distant cousin. In the last years of our marriage, we moved away and abandoned our religious and ethnic roots. Eventually, I lost touch with the language of my birth and cultural connections.

During my teens and twenties, I listened to captivating stories told by my mother-in-law, five sets of grandparents and other refugees about their journeys to Canada; and heard about the trials and tribulations they faced on their trek. I wish that I had recorded those sagas then, as they would made a handy reference later.

Although I abandoned my Mennonite faith during my adult years, I didn't want the legacy of my heritage to be forgotten by my children. In 2014, as Russia walked into Crimea and conflict in the Donbas broke out, I took my son to Poland and Ukraine to visit the land of our ancestors, to see the places they lived, and hear the history from those who now volunteer to collect the details of the past.

Writing the stories of the survivors had always interested me, but I didn't know how to re-tell them without injuring the truth. It was after this trip that I toyed with the idea of using a fictional format. Through trial and error, I eventually latched onto a way to pull the legends together and then, this series was birthed.

History is easily lost with time or distorted by events. It dawned that that the younger generations know little about their ancestry. Therefore, if my peer group doesn't write or record the history, the stories will disappear. Sadly, some feel the past is a sacred stone that should not be moved by fictional tales. I disagree. Fiction is the ultimate opportunity to capture a glimpse of the past through the imaginations of the present. I write to provide a portal to that forgotten time — an entry point for the next generation who crave to know their great-great grandparents journeys.

I also leave this legacy for the modern Mennonites who want to ignore the political and spiritual lessons of the past, but are still curious enough to search for their DNA and find their missing relatives; and for the non-Mennonites who only share the genetics and wonder.

I'd love to know if I've made an impact on your life. Please connect with me here and sign up for my newsletter. Share your refugee and Mennonite stories. Who knows? Maybe Katarina and Peter's families will share your history in a future chapter.

About the Author:

MJ Krause-Chivers

As Carlos Ruiz Zafón said: "Books are mirrors: you only see in them what you already have inside you."

AUTHOR

MJ KRAUSE-CHIVERS

About the Author:

MJ Krause-Chivers

As Carlos Ruiz Zafón said: "Books are mirrors: you only see in them what you already have inside you."

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