About '2000 Miles to Freedom'
This is a story wrapped in a mystery that unfolded over many years. My sister Stacey & I grew up in Brooklyn. In 1973 our Ukrainian Grandmother, who we knew as Bubbe Lottie, came to live with us. We knew of her harrowing experience escaping their small Ukrainian village during The Russian Revolution, but not much else. She then had a hard life in New York, raising 4 children & dealing with an absentee, criminal, bigamist husband, our Grandfather, Sam 'Jumbo' Berg, a colorful, but sociopathic character.
The part of the story that she did tell us, was that when life became treacherous because of The Revolution, WWI amp;& the Genocide of Ukrainian Jews, her brother Hyman returned from the U.S. and secretly guided them across Europe & the Atlantic Ocean to America over many months. In 1974, Stacey recorded an interview with her for a school project titled: 'Interview with an Immigrant'.
43 years later, I discovered the full story after doing my genetic testing & finding Lottie's extended family. Lottie was estranged from her family who she left Ukraine with, because of the scandalous, criminal activities of her husband Sam Berg, widely known as 'Jumbo'.
Meeting my new found cousins opened the floodgates and started a 7 year project to unearth the story. Over time, I was able to uncover a broad collection of family background material: photos, audio recording, historical documents and written narratives. I then added to this with my own research from online & in-person sources which uncovered newspaper articles, legal documents, maps, passports, photos, illustrations & the history of the immigrant experience, their escape from Russian tyranny, anti-semitism & their new life in America.
About Carey Berg: A writer & entrepreneur, I've had 40 years of experience in diverse fields, such as advertising, sales promotion & technical writing. I've worked with companies large & small, crafting compelling narratives & assisting them in bringing their products to market. My collaboration with Jeremy Wolfe Kivett and his company Motherbrain, who did all the illustrations, formed the perfect alliance (& friendship) allowing me to create, design and complete the book.
25% of all profits from '2000 Miles to Freedom' will be donated to Ukrainian freedom and relief organizations to support the people of Ukraine through this devastating war. We will also post links to the tab on the page titled 'Donate to Ukraine' for websites where you can contribute".
'2000 Miles to Freedom' will appeal to a broad audience, from graphic novel enthusiasts to those interested in historical fiction, Ukrainian & U.S. history, true crime stories, the light & dark sides of 'The American Dream' and a classic 'Hero vs Anti-Hero' drama.