Escape To Freedom: Chronicles of a Life on Two Continents

"Escape To Freedom: Chronicles Of A Life On Two Continents" chronicles how Irie Glajar, a mathematics professor in Austin, Texas, escaped to freedom in the U.S.A. from communist Romania of 1981. At age 26 Irie risked his life in a daring escape from communism through Yugoslavia and Italy to reach freedom in the United States. The odds were against him with little money, no vehicle, no passport and having to deal with several foreign languages along the way. Escape To Freedom is an entertaining autobiography about Irie's life under communism, his dangerous escape, and his present life in the freedom of the U.S.A.

0 out of 5 starsGreat Reading

July 7, 2013

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I loved this book. Anybody that is really interested in reading an amazing story of survival, and about how to have a positive outlook on life, this is your book.

ut of 5 starshappiness and peace of mind

September 16, 2014

Format: Kindle Edition

"Escape To Freedom" is the true story of the author's personal quest for freedom, happiness and peace of mind.
It is a book which encourages readers to meditate over the important aspects in life and how one can succeed if he follows a profound goal.

The chapters of the book (representing rather chapters of the author's life) cover a lot of interesting topics and contexts: from childhood, school and villages in the communist Romania to life in a refugee camp or then in the U.S.A. as a truly free man (including of course late returns to the post-revolutionary Romania).
Given the natural flow of Irie's life and of the told story, the book's reading is easy and generating passion.

It's impressive how many challenges and decisions the author was faced to. It's also amazing how many good people he met; no matter the country, he has always found real friends (some of them very new) to lean on and to help in his turn.

I would say so much more, but I let other people look inside the covers of this book in order to discover the so many details of this unique life.

5.0 out of 5 starsWhat a story!

May 29, 2014

Format: Paperback

This little gem of a book tells the amazing story of Irie Glajar's escape from Romania, a country dominated at the time by Nicolae Ceaușescu, a notoriously brutal and repressive ruler. With little more than the clothes on his back and a small sum of pocket money he was able to make his way to the United States and establish himself in Austin Texas as a mathematics professor, husband, father, and respected member of the community.

Stories like Glajar's often get hidden in the vociferous debates over immigration. But for a country like the U.S., with its history of welcome to immigrants of all stripes, such a story reminds us of the wealth of human capital we have gained from opening our arms to those who have risked everything to come to our land.