Escape to Freedom

Dave Jenkinson is Associate Dean of the Faculty of Education at the
University of Manitoba.

Kasper tells the story of the quest of five Displaced Persons—three
juveniles and two adults—to reach Canada to begin a new life following
World War II. Their story commences in September 1945, in a labor camp
near Saaz, Czechoslovakia, and concludes in 1948 as they finally arrive
in Halifax by ship. The book is divided into two parts. The first
segment, “Flight to the Border,” chronicles the dangerous and
difficult flight of three of the book’s juvenile characters from
Communist Europe to West Germany. The opening section’s narrator is
Elsbeth Hoffer, 13, an Austrian living in Communist-controlled
Czechoslovakia. With her mother, brother Emil, 7, and Jaroslav Jindrich,
the 14-year-old son of a Czech commissar who fears for his son’s
safety, Elsbeth is supposed to travel to Bayreuth, Bavaria, some 500
kilometres distant, where the quartet will rendezvous with Mr. Hoffer.
Unfortunately, Frau Hoffer is sent to a Russian work camp on the eve of
departure. The second section, “Visa to Canada,” is told from
Jaroslav’s perspective. While the juvenile trio’s flight across
Communist-controlled territory had been fraught with many physical
dangers, the Hoffers, now fully reunited, must, with Jaroslav’s help,
overcome a new and different set of challenges in war-torn Germany as
they seek to obtain visas to emigrate to Canada plus acquire sufficient
money for their passage.

Kasper effectively portrays the many harsh realities experienced by
those displaced by war, but especially their continuing battle to
acquire life’s basic needs. In particular, the characters’ constant
hunger and their relentless search for food is well developed. As well
as containing some likable characters and telling a good story, Escape
to Freedom will nondidactically inform middle-school readers about a
period in Canada’s relatively recent immigration history.