World War II was such a devastating time for all the innocent people mostly the elderly, women and children who had to suffer through bombing, lack of food and shelter and those who were not lucky enough to end up on the West side of Germany were left to suffer under communism of East Germany. This book is a novel based on a true story of a young family journey through WWII and then living under communist rule. Then they were able escaped from East Germany in 1953 and became refuges in their own country. Finally learning to live with the ugly memories of the past and moving forward into a new future. They were living in the light and then the darkness of war and communism were all they knew, but through the many trials and struggles they survived walking through the darkness and into the light which they were made stronger in the end.