Life, Death and Human Trafficking in Russia

An inspirational memoir by radiologist-turned-activist Juliette M. Engel, M.D.

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Order Angels Over Moscow: Life, Death and Human Trafficking in Russia by Juliette M. Engel, MD

Angels Over Moscow is an inspirational, first-person account of the life of American physician, Dr. Juliette Engel, who founded MiraMed Institute to devote her energy and resources to helping reform maternal and infant healthcare in Russia. In the process, she uncovered the extent of human trafficking in the Former Soviet Union.

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During a mission to improve medical care for children in orphanages, she discovered a link between the State institutions and an international network that trafficked young Russian girls to Scandinavia for prostitution. She followed their trail north into Norway, where she ran headlong into the international slave trade of the 20th Century. From that point forward, there was no turning back for the determined doctor, as she traveled throughout the former USSR, often at great personal peril, building a network of villagers, educators, police, media, and government officials called the Angel Coalition who committed their talents and resources to creating an underground railroad that helped thousands of trafficking victims to return safely home. As a result of her work, she became eyewitness to the collapse of an empire as the USSR broke apart, and the Russian people struggled to find their identity without losing their humanity.

About the Author

Dr. Juliette Engel moved to Moscow in 1999 and founded the Angel Coalition to combat human trafficking. Over the next ten years, the Angel Coalition grew into an underground railroad that assisted thousands of victims. She also co-founded Moscow’s municipal orphanage staff training center, Women and Children First, and a nationwide program of community center support for single mothers, the Babushka Brigade. Her life was a constant collage of travel and adventure with a cluster of Russian colleagues and friends. She sweated in banyas and jumped into frigid Siberian lakes, traveled by train and bus to small villages on the steppes, and ate blinis with honey in Novgorod and smoked fish on the shores of Lake Onega. She sailed the great Volga River, delivering aid to orphanages and getting to know the kids, watching them grow over the years and trying, often in vain, to keep them safe. She came back to America in 2010 when her protégé was murdered by traffickers and Russian Military Intelligence warned her that she would be next. She is currently living in the Washington DC area and writing her memoirs.

Reviews

Angels over Moscow is a riveting account of one woman's compassion that drove her past her fears to rescue stolen and forsaken lives. Filled with twists and turns, the pages read like a spy novel set in post-cold war Russia, except her experiences are real! One thing is certain, she reveals that Love and compassion overcomes fear and hardship. May these pages capture the hearts of many more like her to set out on rescue missions for the trafficked souls waiting for someone to give them hope and a hand.

Randy DeMain

Christian minister and author of Nephilim Resurgence, the rise of the 4th kingdom and Endtime Spiritual Warriors.

Like her previous memoir Sparky: Surviving Sex Magick, Angels over Moscow is an extraordinary work, written in a fast-paced prose that is once again more thriller than memoir. This is a tragic and triumphant read with tension ranging from awkward suspense and humor to outright terror on every page.

Richard W. Marek

Editor, Richard Marek Books, at Putnam Publishing Group, author of Works of Genius and editor of The Bourne Identity.

In her inspiring memoir, Dr. Engel describes the formation of a nationwide rescue operation based in Moscow called The Angel Coalition. Russian Angels struggle to save trafficking victims from a tragic fate. It is an exciting story, told with humor, and set against a vibrant backdrop of ordinary Russian life, replete with details of food, weather, landscape, and politics. The author writes from a deep understanding of Russia as well as from a love for this vast country and its people.

Solveig Eggerz

Author of Seal Woman, Sigga of Reykjavik and Mandatory Dancing.

More than a memoir, Angels Over Moscow is a riveting view of human trafficking involving world leaders from the Russian mafia to US Government actors who talk a good game on claiming to want to stop human trafficking but when shown alternatives that work, they deliberately block grassroots actions that might end the highly lucrative industry. Most fascinating is how the U.S. State Department quashed information from the Angel Coalition proving that the United States was the leading destination for trafficking victims from the former USSR.

Carey Gave

Court Advocate for Victims of Domestic Abuse, State of Illinois

Juliette Engel's personal story of triumph over evil in action in the forbidden Former Soviet Union is chilling and transformative. There are human rights activists who swarm with rhetoric over this modern slavery but Juliette was a pioneer in solving the scope of the problems by engaging the victims and perpetrators face to face. She set up systems for rescue, restoration and reform that have been a resource for others on the globe who must confront crimes of humanity that damage the very soul of the culture. I know because I watched her challenge authorities there in Russia which rippled back to the conscience of the American public stance on modern slavery to establish an office at the US State Department which in turn began to honestly address our own problems at home. This is a story of overcoming evil, exposing it, and commanding results from the very top players on the globe. It is inspiring and terrifying and a really good read. Take a lesson in grit mixed with intelligence and watch her own soul grow by the actions she undertook.

Claudia Barlow

Chairman of MiraMed, strategist and consultant to governments and non-profit global groups.

Angels Over Moscow is a memoir that is both disturbing and spellbinding. Juliette Engel's decision to leave her medical practice in Seattle in 1990 and travel to Moscow turned her life upside down. In Russia she fought, often futilely, for reforms in the medical treatment of women “horribly mistreated at maternity "hospitals" and, ultimately for radical changes in the battle against the sex trafficking of children and young women in the heart of Russia. She and her colleagues worked against almost impossible odds to stop the casual and widespread practice of trafficking youngsters, dealing with violence, corruption, and bureaucratic obstacles. This, combined with the personal emotional changes these efforts brought about in the author, comprise a deeply moving story. Engel's deep affection for the Russia she came to love, and for those she worked with (who repeatedly warned her of the dangers she faced) keep the reader racing to the end.

Phil Harvey

Author of Show Time, The Human Cost of Welfare, and several dozen short stories.

As well written and fast paced as any thriller I've read, Angels Over Moscow immerses the reader in the gritty and terrifying Russian underworld of human trafficking with the urgency needed to expose and eradicate it root and branch. Highly visual cinematographic writing puts the reader in the country, sampling the food and interacting with a glorious variety of vividly drawn characters. The riveting effort to save children by a brave woman obsessed by her mission is quite moving.

Ginny Fite

Author of No End of Bad, Blue Girl on a Night Dream Sea and Possession.

Angels Over Moscow was a riveting read that took me into the beating heart of Russia, from its wealthy cities to its poorest villages. I marveled at Engel’s courage to enter the former Soviet Union, not only to share her medical knowledge but to fight against the entrenched practice of human trafficking. Undaunted by suffering and obstacles—political coups, the KGB—Engel persisted in her effort to save lives. I am in awe.