Erwin Biener's comfortable middle-class boyhood in Hungary was destroyed by the coming of the Nazis. For a long time, he and his mother lived a terrible existence hiding from the Nazis and their equally maniacal Hungarian allies, often just seconds from capture and deportation to the concentration camps. Eventually he was able to get out of Hungary, but that was not the end of the privations, the hunger and the battle to survive. But at last he was able to come to Canada, shortly after followed by his mother and it was not long before the drive, the intelligence and the mutual caring were able to provide them with a comfortable life again. These vignettes reflect the bad days, the fear, the danger and eventually a humorous, philosophical outlook on life that has stood Erwin in good stead over the years.