FREE LIKE A BIRD is an adventure story and a coming of age tale of two friends, Yosef, a Jew, and Ivan, a gentile, caught in a world conflicted by war, revolution, and anti-Semitism. In 1913, seven-year-old Yosef Matsevitsky learns that his father plans to leave the Ukraine for America, beginning a ten-year struggle for Yosef, his mother, and sisters to be reunited with Papa. Yosef moves to Kiev to study at the tsar's military school. His education is cut short when the Bolshevik Revolution interferes. Upon returning home, he must make the ultimate choice between friendship and justice when he learns of Ivan's betrayal. Yosef uses all his wits and cunning to facilitate the family's passage to America.
This story is a fictionalized memoir, based on real events which occurred during the childhood of the author's father-in-law. The characters and situations are creations of the author's imagination. It was written to honor his memory and for his grandchildren and great-grandchildren to learn about their heritage. It is also a tribute to freedom-seekers everywhere.
