By Force and Fear, A Stolen Homeland

By Force and Fear: A Stolen Homeland is based on the true stories of Chnals, a twelve-year-old German-Russian boy with unusual faith and courage in desperate times. On February 8, 1918, a thousand-man army of Tatars, on horseback, raced down the Caucasus Mountains onto the unsuspecting German villages below. Within hours Chnals turns into a man as he takes charge of the younger children in the family.

The setting is Southern Russia near the Caspian Sea, and north of the Caucasus Mountains, during the beginning of the Russian Revolution and communism. The Czar has been dethroned, and anarchy is sweeping the country.

The stories, based on real life events, tell of Chnals's escape to freedom to own his land, freedom to speak his truth, freedom to worship, Running, hiding, laughing, crying, his words echo the true sacrifices our ancestors and many people today are still making to obtain liberty.

Inspired by her father's stories, young Anna, the author, relives her father's deeply traumatic young life through his many memories, with much deeper understanding and love.

It is now a hundred years ago (August 8,1924) that the family escaped Ukraine and landed in Quebec, Canada. The question that still lingers in Anna's mind is simple. "Why? Why are we reliving the same story again?"