They Had to Leave Everything:

Struggling with roadblocks and moving your family forward?Your family roll their eyes every time you mention an ancestor?

The Heritage Legacy Roadmap is our solution to solve those and many other issues we commonly face. Book your Free Call https://howwegothere.ca/roadmap/ and we can help build a strategy that works for you.In this episode, Brian sits down with Tamara Buzina-Adams, author of The Last Ship to Freedom, to discuss the captivating journey of uncovering her family’s escape from post-imperial Russia. Tamara shares how her genealogical journey began unexpectedly while researching her husband’s Polish ancestry, eventually leading her back to five long-forgotten diaries written by her grandmother starting at age eleven. These diaries, written in beautiful pre-revolutionary Russian cursive, detail a harrowing yet vibrant 18-month period spent living aboard a ship during the chaotic Crimean evacuation of 1920.Throughout the conversation, Tamara highlights the "detective work" required to piece together a historical narrative when traditional records seem out of reach. She describes utilizing a diverse toolkit—from collaborating with fluent family members for translations to using Google Translate and connecting with distant relatives who possessed matching photographs of the very ship her grandmother lived on. By matching family stories of horses in the Black Sea with historical events like the evacuation at Novorossiysk, Tamara demonstrates how understanding the broader political and historical context can breathe life into the "dash" between an ancestor's birth and death dates.How to Find Tamara Buzyna AdamsLast Ship to Freedom is on Amazon: https://amzn.to/45QcsKwWebsite: https://www.tamarabuzynaadams.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/author_tamara_adams/ How We Got Here: Genealogy is hosted by family historian Brian Nash. Brian helps people not just trace their family tree, but understand the history surrounding the people, places, and events that make up their family's unique story.CONNECT & SUPPORT🌳 All My Links (Linktree): https://linktr.ee/howwegotheregenealogy 🙋 Ask a Genealogy Question: Visit https://ask.howwegothere.ca/ or email [e-mail] ☕ Support the Channel (Buy Me a Coffee): https://www.buymeacoffee.com/howwegothere 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Join our Genealogy Community (The Family Circle): https://familycircle.howwegothere.ca/About Brian NashBrian Nash is a family historian and the host of How We Got Here: Genealogy. He focuses on helping people not just trace their family tree, but to understand the history surrounding the people, places, and events that make each family's story unique.Brian began researching his own family history over 30 years ago. He proudly calls himself a "Celtic Canadian," having traced his own roots from Scotland and Ireland to their arrival in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia in the 18th and 19th centuries. His ancestors’ stories are deeply woven into the fabric of Canadian history—some fled the Highland Clearances in Scotland, while others left Ireland during the Great Famine. They brought their expertise as coal miners and farmers from Scotland to Cape Breton and their mercantile and fishing skills from Ireland to the streets of Halifax.This personal connection to the past fuels Brian's passion for helping others discover their own heritage. As a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG) and genealogical societies in Nova Scotia, Scotland, and Prince Edward Island, Brian shares his extensive knowledge from his home base on PEI. He currently serves on the boards of the Prince Edward Island Community Museums Association and the Bedeque and Area Historical Society.Through How We Got Here Genealogy Services, Brian guides others to connect with their own vibrant family narratives, helping them understand not just who their ancestors were, but how they lived.