NATASCHA WODIN was born in the Bavarian town of Fürth in 1945 to parents who had been forced laborers until they were liberated by the Allies in Leipzig. She grew up on the margins of postwar German society, living for many years in the notorious Camp Valka for Displaced Persons in Nuremberg, and after the early death of her mother she was raised in a Catholic home for girls.ALFRED KUEPPERS, a graduate of Pomona College and Columbia University with postgraduate work in post-Soviet studies from the Harriman Institute has lived and worked in Europe as a journalist since 1999.

• Contents Part One. Answers in the Internet Part Two. Aunt Lidia’s Journals Part Three. Journey to Germany Part Four. Displaced Persons in Postwar Germany Acknowledgments Notes

"The unexpected and surprising revelations are structured like a crime thriller: the tension increases with every detail, and chance generates a spectacular, wide-screen story. […] The catastrophic events of twentieth-century history are dealt with here in miniature, but with existential impact."—From Die Zeit (Hamburg, Germany)

NATASCHA WODIN was born in the Bavarian town of Fürth in 1945 to parents who had been forced laborers until they were liberated by the Allies in Leipzig. She grew up on the margins of postwar German society, living for many years in the notorious Camp Valka for Displaced Persons in Nuremberg, and after the early death of her mother she was raised in a Catholic home for girls.ALFRED KUEPPERS, a graduate of Pomona College and Columbia University with postgraduate work in post-Soviet studies from the Harriman Institute has lived and worked in Europe as a journalist since 1999.

• Contents Part One. Answers in the Internet Part Two. Aunt Lidia’s Journals Part Three. Journey to Germany Part Four. Displaced Persons in Postwar Germany Acknowledgments Notes

"The unexpected and surprising revelations are structured like a crime thriller: the tension increases with every detail, and chance generates a spectacular, wide-screen story. […] The catastrophic events of twentieth-century history are dealt with here in miniature, but with existential impact."—From Die Zeit (Hamburg, Germany)

NATASCHA WODIN was born in the Bavarian town of Fürth in 1945 to parents who had been forced laborers until they were liberated by the Allies in Leipzig. She grew up on the margins of postwar German society, living for many years in the notorious Camp Valka for Displaced Persons in Nuremberg, and after the early death of her mother she was raised in a Catholic home for girls.ALFRED KUEPPERS, a graduate of Pomona College and Columbia University with postgraduate work in post-Soviet studies from the Harriman Institute has lived and worked in Europe as a journalist since 1999.

• Contents Part One. Answers in the Internet Part Two. Aunt Lidia’s Journals Part Three. Journey to Germany Part Four. Displaced Persons in Postwar Germany Acknowledgments Notes

"The unexpected and surprising revelations are structured like a crime thriller: the tension increases with every detail, and chance generates a spectacular, wide-screen story. […] The catastrophic events of twentieth-century history are dealt with here in miniature, but with existential impact."—From Die Zeit (Hamburg, Germany)