Paul Salomon was a successful Hamburg bank manager - until 1933. He had become prosperous within a few years, bought a handsome house in Harvestehude and was able to afford his children a carefree youth - almost. With this book, his son Ernest H. Sanders, who emigrated to New York in 1938, gives an account of the rise and fall of his family in Germany.The stealthy transformation from a "normal" civil life to - at first unacknowledged - persecution, which resulted in the suicide of both parents on 21st September 1941, is recounted in a subtle and therefore moving way. In spite of these painful experiences, Sanders retained a close connection to his native city which his thankfulness towards his school, the Johanneum in Hamburg, and especially towards his class shows, enabling him to take his school leaving examination in spite of contrary orders - thereby laying the foundation for his future in the United States.