Left All for Nothing: Escape from a Communist Country

by Maria Barnes

Maria Barnes' escape came as a cruel blow to her family whose life was struck once before when her Father disappeared in 1956 leaving behind a single mother of four when Barnes was just three years old. When Barnes arrived at the Black Sea in 1970, she never expected to get this far. Tired of being tortured, beaten, and persecuted by an oppressive communist government, she plans her escape for seven years to save herself from dying in jail like her Father. After being in a coma for nine days, in 1977 she decided to leave all for nothing and cross the Danube River into Yugoslavia on an inflated garbage bag.

208 pages, Paperback