Tuesday 10 April 2018

Toivo Waske's CROSSING BORDERS

I recently had an email from Lea (Waske) Springer, letting me know about CROSSING BORDERS, her father's memoir.

Subtitled "From Refugee to Freedom Fighter," the memoir is available from Amazon.ca at this link. Toivo Waske began writing his memoirs in the 1980s. He was born in 1918 in Finland, where his family had fled from Russia to avoid the Revolution. In 1924, his family returned to Russia. In later years, he lived in Finland and Sweden before emigrating to Canada.

The book includes an account of Toivo's involvement in the Winter War and Continuation War. Described as "the ordinary patrol member's view," the memoir provides a fascinating account of everyday events during wartime.

I appreciate reading this first-hand account of turbulent times--which could describe all of  Europe in the 20th century. Kudos to the family for making this memoir available!