Her idyllic childhood--centered on family and church--ended abruptly in the spring of 1939. German soldiers showed up at the Czechoslovakian school 12-year-old Marta attended. The children ages 12 and older were forced into the military bus and driven away, never to see their families again.

Marta spent the next five years as a farm slave. At the end of World War II, with the Russians advancing, she was left to her own devices to escape to the west. While she was free again, life was not much easier. Faced with starvation and trying to keep herself safe, Marta joined the swelling ranks of other displaced persons in German cities. Her story continues in Occupied Germany, as she interacts with other war refugees, American soldiers and their families, and German bureaucrats.

Always a survivor who could make the best of extremely trying circumstances, Marta moved to the United States in the early 1960s. She wrote this book to encourage other immigrants to believe in themselves, and to know that, with perserverance and hard work, they, too, can overcome the worst of circumstances.

Dimensions: 5.5x0.05x8.25