Following a narrow escape from the Russian advance in the East, Eva steps from the train into a world of despair. Berlin is a shattered memory of what it used to be. The city is in ruins. Refuse and rubble litter the streets. Burned out buildings and charred automobiles are everywhere. The survivors here are thin and haggard. The first impressions of the city and its inhabitants don't bode well for young Eva Radtke and her family. The stark reality here is gnawing hunger, hiding in the shadows, and wondering if the next bomb will be the last. This is a first-hand account of the Radtke's struggle to survive through the horrors of WWII Berlin and the subsequent Russian invasion of Nazi Germany, leading to their eventual escape from East Germany through the Iron Curtain.