Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 My parents were Jewish, and they were escaping the communists in Hungary. They met in Budapest, fell in love, and then were sucked into the abyss of Europe in the first half of the twentieth century. They were born just before World War I. #2 Hungary was not an unpleasant place in the 1920s and 1930s, but demons are not so easy to purge. World War I had settled nothing, and the war was fought over the status of Germany, which ever since its unification in 1871 had thrown the balance and stability of Europe into chaos. #3 My father, being a clever man, knew that he could not stay in Hungary and fight against anti-Semitism. He transferred with other Jews to labor battalions, who were expected to die, and Horthy had no problem sending them off. #4 The Battle of Stalingrad was a turning point in the war, as the Soviets were able to encircle and defeat the German Sixth Army, which led to the surrender and annihilation of the German troops. My father's problem was that the Soviets' northern thrust was aimed directly at him, and they knew that Germany's allies were the weak link.