Betty Iverson

A Time to Flee: Unseen Women of Courage Betty Iverson

A TIME TO FLEE is a collection of four true stories of UNSEEN WOMEN OF COURAGE during the Second World War in Europe. The book came into being, because the author met these women who mentioned a unique experience that sounded like an interesting story. Annie spoke of spending the end of the war in a wine cave in Budapest. Isabelle's friend spoke of her French Resistance experience, saying, "Someone should write that woman's story." Ene spoke of leaving her village in Estonia on an old fire engine. Margret fled Romania in a train car." While the countries of origin are different, the women face similar dangers. ANNIE is a teenager in Budapest as  the holocaust escalates from wearing yellow stars to moving all the Jews into a ghetto. Annie's mother, Rose arranges for herself and her two daughters, Annie and Vali, to hide separately in Buda.  They are arrested, escape and hide again. They witness the last days of fighting between the Russians and the Germans in Buda. ISABELLE is staunch French patriot who marries and then joins the Resistance along with her husband, Pierre. After their son is born, their involvement grows and they escape capture by the Gestapo. At the Resistance headquarters on a farm outside Lyon, they once again face danger when their leader is arrested. They hide in Lyon as the war ends. JOA and Paul, with daughter ENE flee Estonia and begin their refugee journey, wandering homeless about Germany. They face hunger, illnesses, always a step ahead of the feared Russians. They sleep in fields or stay at camps. At their last camp, they live with other Estonians. This story is told from both a mother and daughter perspective. MARGRET flees Romania with her baby son and her parents in a freight car. The cold and difficulty of finding food make the days on the train perilous. She is reunited with her husband in Germany. They face dangers in Czechoslovakia and an even greater danger in Austria, at a Russian border crossing.