Beginning on a grey, October morning in Germany's fen landscape and a hermit cobbler spiritually lamed by events, this collection of stories embedded in German history, tells of the destinies of modest men and women whose strong, but quiet perseverance in the face of adversity steered German history in a mysterious way through a most difficult century, stories that appear today sometimes beyond belief. The stories depict desperate moments of truth, terrible decisions, tests of faith, or simply the reluctance or eagerness of individuals to respond to the challanges that history threw down in front of them. The collection ends, of course, on a happy note, with a man who weeps for joy under the first, warm sunrays of April.