Living the American Dream

Adorning Nery Barnet Kircher's kitchen counter on July 4 is a magnificent red, white, and blue flower arrangement. Let there be no doubt that Kircher is patriotic. But this particular display of patriotism’s roots runs deeper than a holiday celebration. The bouquet symbolizes 46 years of American citizenship for Barnet Kircher, who survived Cuba’s forced labor camps before experiencing freedom in the United States. It seems only fitting that she became an American citizen on the nation’s birthday. Freedom is something Barnet Kircher will never take for granted.

“I've seen Americans take for granted the freedom that we are enjoying now,” Barnet Kircher said. “That freedom could be gone just in a blink of an eye.”

Barnet Kircher recently completed her book Living in Freedom, a follow up to her  2021 book Path to Freedom that details her struggles in a Cuban forced labor camp and her family’s eventual Freedom Flight on June 22, 1972.

"This is a continuation,” Barnet Kircher said. “It is a sequel to Path to Freedom. In this book, the first chapter is dedicated to the moment that we found out that we got permission to leave. The soldiers came into our house and told my mom, ‘Okay, you have to leave the house now. You need to pick up some things and leave.' The soldiers came with an inventory list. They already did an inventory of everything that we had in the house when my father presented documentation years before to leave the country. They did an inventory of everything that my parents had in their house. Pictures, bedroom sets—everything was in the inventory. So, when the soldiers came, they said, ‘Well, let's check and see if everything is here.' They went with my mom and the president of the Defense of the Revolution. They came and checked everything, every item. Then he told my mom, ‘Okay, now you need to get one change of clothing only and leave the house. My father and I were not there, we were in the forced labor camps. She just got for us a change of clothing. 

Barnet Kircher and her father were in separate forced labor camps.

“My mom put everything inside this big bag that she had all these years waiting for this moment. When they left, they put a seal on the house so nobody could go back in there again. The truck that brought me home from the forced labor camp took a different route that day. When he dropped me in front of my house, everybody was outside: my mom was screaming, ‘We are leaving! We are leaving!’ I took my kerchief and gave it to the older ladies in the truck and gave them my bag and whatever I could give them to use at the camp. You don't have things in Cuba. So, whatever I had, like a kerchief and my mochila (backpack). And some water containers. Things like that. They were saying, 'Oh, my God, you're leaving!’”

Barnet Kircher lived under the Rule of Fidel Castro for 13 years. It’s a number she will never forget. She could read and write English, thanks to lessons learned from her father, who was a professor. She had to learn to speak English as a young adult in a new country.

“My father paid a professor,” she said. "We had a teacher. My father did so much for us. He sacrificed so much. It wasn't easy, but he made sure that his girls, at least the three oldest ones, were learning English to be ready for our move to the US."

Her family lived in the northeast before moving south. "We came into Miami in 1972,” she said. "We came to Miami with only $500.”

Barnet Kircher met her husband, Bob Kircher, in Miami, and together they have enjoyed 48 years of marriage.

"Living in freedom,” Barnet Kircher said, "teaching and volunteering. Great life experiences.”

Barnet Kircher hopes her books make readers appreciate their freedom.

"In this book, I tell the story of my experiences and Bob's experiences in teaching and in life in general. That's what the book is based on. It goes up to 2001. I want my books to be an awakening for people all over the world. I want them to know the real truth of what socialism and communism is. You could think that is the best thing that could happen to a country, but the reality is so different. The reality is it’s a shared misery. And if you look all over the world, all those countries that have experienced communism, and you speak to any of those people, you will learn and they will tell you the same thing I'm telling you today. It is not good for the country. It is just shared misery."

Barnet Kircher’s books are available on Amazon.com.