Book excerpt: 1949: American Rudy Chapman is planning his escape from Communist East Germany. For the past decade, he has survived the Nazi regime's brutality by teaching English in the tiny village of Grossheringen and translating at a POW camp while secretly aiding Allied POW code writers. Rudy falls in love with Miriam, a young Jewish woman in hiding, and remains optimistic that Miriam's family is alive. At war's end, unseen forces pull the couple apart. Miriam is utterly convinced her family has vanished, yet Rudy remains a Holocaust skeptic. Eventually escaping to West Germany, Rudy is recruited by the Allies to assist post-war displaced persons. Finally learning that the Holocaust was real, Rudy is devastated. Hoping to start a new life with Miriam, he longs to reunite with her. But will Miriam survive her daunting escape to the West? A Merriam Press Historical Fiction book.