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Start giftingJusta’s Escape
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Learn moreIn this real-life adventure, Justa, youngest of ten children in a Mennonite family in WWII era Ukraine, revisits a childhood in totalitarian Stalinist USSR. When authorities swoop down in the middle of the night to seize neighbor’s fathers, Justa begins to dread the dark. Would her beloved papa be next? As both armies—German and Russian—approach, thirteen-year-old Justa and her family hurriedly pack their wagon to flee. What valuables should they take? What must they leave behind? How will the absent brothers find them? Will the family ever be whole again? What dangers do they face? In the end, who will survive?
Justina Neufeld, youngest of ten siblings, was caught in the suffering and turmoil of the Stalinist purges and World War II. As a teenager, she fled her homeland. Separated from her mother, she lived as a refugee for four years in Europe. Rescued by Mennonite Central Committee worker Peter Dyck, she and one brother's family were brought to safety in Holland. In 1947, Justina immigrated to the United States. The war scattered her parents and siblings across three continents. Neufeld graduated with a college degree in nursing administration and a master's degree in gerontology. Now retired, she lives with her Maltipoo, Gigi, in North Newton, Kansas. She is also the author of A Family Torn Apart.
Reviews
"Justina Neufeld's story of her escape to Western Europe and North America during and after World War II is one of the most widely told stories of the Mennonite experience. She has told her story to hundreds of audiences and recorded it in print with her book A Family Torn Apart. Now she has written a new version for young adult readers. Another generation will now have the opportunity to get in touch with a remarkably remembered dramatic past."
--James C. Juhnke, coauthor of The Missing Peace: The Search for Nonviolent Alternatives in United States History
"In the lyric simplicity of free verse, this young girl's coming-of-age story is heartrending for its honesty. Yet, it is a tribute to life and hope in its recall of the specific details of village life. Memorably recorded details tell us we were alive in this world and that our lives mattered. . . . Faithfulness to a girl's real lived experience makes this story beautiful, timeless, powerful, and necessary."
--Raylene Hinz Penner, author of Searching for Sacred Ground: The Story of Chief Lawrence Hart, Mennonite
"Justina Neufeld shares in riveting detail the story of her hardships in and escape from war-torn Ukraine, the scattering of her family, her rescue by Peter and Elfrieda Dyck, and her eventual passage to the United States, where she found a home. She recreates the world of her childhood and takes the reader on the difficult travail across Europe. This book provides readers with a journey from which they will emerge grateful and enlightened."
--Beverley Olson Buller, author of A Prairie Peter Pan
"This story made me want to return to the classroom just so I could create an immersive unit . . . using Justina's story as the base text. The universal themes of family, coming of age, and coping with change and loss make the narrative engaging to readers. This story is timely, given the refugee/immigrant situation right now in the US."
--Leslie Wright, fourth-grade teacher
"I highly recommend this book. It deserves great conversations about values, religion, and resiliency. It's a story about a real refugee, now a vibrant ninety-one-year-old woman, who not only survived but thrived as a nurse, friend, and ambassador of peace."
--Dorothy Nickel Friesen, author of The Pastor Wears a Skirt: Stories of Gender and Ministry
"A youthful Justina yearns for adventure and an escape from village life in Ukraine. She ends up on a journey far greater than she imagined or wanted. . . . Neufeld's narrative is soulful and hopeful, anxious and deeply personal, and ultimately a testament to the reach and power of the Mennonite diaspora amidst the world's greatest theater of war. Prepare to be reminded of the power of humanity and the good in others."
--Jon C. Gering, Bethel College
"A friend once urged a young Justina Neufeld to record her life. This lyrical adaptation of her longer memoir fulfills that promise, sharing a story that takes readers on her memorable journey from the Ukraine to the United States. Without condescending to readers, she enriches her narrative with important observations about Mennonites, the USSR, World War II, and unchanging human nature."
--David Sprunger, Concordia College
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