Kasanesh describes her family tree. When she was a young child, her family left her birthplace after a spate of epidemics. They moved to her grandmother’s village, Silazhey. In this village, the residents spoke Oghanic, not Amharic. It did not take Kasanesh long to learn the language. She talks about her work as a child. She describes her relationship with her siblings and the games they played. From her perspective as a Christian child, Kasanesh talks about the relationship with the Jews who came to her village and worked as blacksmiths and potters.

In accordance with local custom, a bridegroom was found for her when she was only four years old. She was engaged until she married at the age of 13. Kasanesh talks at length about the years of her engagement and the customs observed at the wedding. After the wedding, she travelled by donkey to her husband’s village in the province of Tigray. On the way, she began to suffer from a toothache. When she arrived, she had to have the tooth extracted. After a period of acclimation during which she lived with her in-laws, the couple moved to their own house. They had a daughter. Kasanesh describes her daughter’s birth and the festive Christian customs connected with the birth.

Kasanesh and her family lived a rural life and made a living from farming. One day when they were working in the field, Kasanesh’s eight-year-old daughter had a dream about a black man who held her hand and took her with him. Her mother-in-law tried to placate the spirit with food sacrifices but to no avail. A week later, the child died. Kasanesh made a vow to God and gave birth to another daughter.

At that time, a group of rebels against the regime called the Adengori-Trit began to operate in the area. In response, the government army initiated an operation of forced conscription in the province. One day, armed soldiers arrived at Kasanesh’s house and kidnapped her husband to conscript him into the army. For two years, Kasanesh knew nothing about his whereabouts. Eventually her cousin, who deserted from the army, told her that her husband had been wounded. During this tumultuous period, on her way home, Kasanesh became embroiled in a gunfight. She and her baby daughter were nearly killed. For another three years she lived alone with her daughter and subsisted on governmental aid. Afterwards, she decided she could no longer wait: she made the necessary arrangements, got divorced, and returned to her parents’ village.

Many people in her parents’ village asked to marry her, but Kasanesh refused them all. One of her suitors was a colonel, the highest ranking officer in the area. His name was Marsha Negedo. Kasanesh’s parents refused him because he was Jewish, but the officer kidnapped her from her home by trickery. Her family went out, armed, to rescue her. A gunfight ensued between the two sides. The colonel managed to reach a temporary truce. Kasanesh’s mother took her baby granddaughter back to the village, and Kasanesh chose to travel with the colonel to his village. On the way, the colonel received a message that fighting had broken out somewhere, and he left Kasanesh with relatives. After the fighting, the couple returned to his village in Semien.

Without her parents’ permission, Kasanesh and the colonel married. Kasanesh converted to Judaism at the holy site of Aba-Ganeta. She describes the conversion ceremony and the accompanying customs.

Kasanesh and her husband lived together for two years then the colonel was re-stationed in Awachara. Kasanesh tried to reconcile with her parents and see her daughter. The village leaders were sent to mediate between the sides and a meeting was arranged. At the end of the meeting, it was decided that Kasanesh would return to her parents’ home. While packing her belongings, Kasanesh discovered she was pregnant. She became very ill. It was eventually decided that she would stay with the colonel, who could take care of all the necessary treatments.

At that time, her husband joined the EHAPA party, one of the rebel organizations opposed to the Derg regime. His battalion began to fight against the regime. After a while, the colonel decided to leave his position. The regime pursued him and put a price on his head. Kasanesh and her husband were forced to run away to her birthplace, the village of Semien Manta. On one of the festivals, the couple was invited to Kasanesh’s mother’s house. The colonel set out alone to her mother’s house. Kasanesh was meant to join him the following day. After he left, Derg soldiers arrived at their house to capture Kasanesh to force her husband to give himself up. However, Kasanesh managed to escape. Accompanied by one of her husband’s soldiers, she reached her parents’ house. The couple stayed with them until the danger passed, and returned home a year later.

The regime’s persecutions did not end. There were several incidents of gunfights in which the colonel and his loyal troops chased away the regime’s soldiers. After refusing to go back to fighting with the rebels, the colonel was imprisoned in the rebels’ jail in Telemet. He was released two months later and returned home. One evening, Kasanesh saw soldiers of the regime approaching their house. She quickly sent someone to warn her husband, who was at home with their children. The soldiers set fire to their crops. Kasanesh did not know what had befallen her family until the next morning, when her husband and children finally emerged from their hiding place. They lived under such threats for two years, until they immigrated to Israel.