This book is a memoir, the tale of my childhood and later years. It is also the story of my family, set against the sociological, historical and political events of the 20th century. It talks vividly about the horrors of the Holocaust in Budapest, Hungary, followed by several years of brutal Communist dictatorship and life behind Iron Curtain. It deals with the intimate personal stories of the protagonists, the enforced parting between parent and child, the loss of home, social position and financial stability and the difficulty of being an immigrant. But most of all, it is the story of enduring struggle in the face of terrible odds and the ultimate survival of the human spirit. ___________________ The cover page of the book shows the memorial called SHOES ON THE DANUBE representing the shoes Jewish victims were ordered to leave behind, before being shot into the Danube.