World War II and the end of the war, expulsion and a new beginning: This is the harrowing experience of a boy who flees with his family from the then-German town of Gleiwitz (today’s Gliwice) in Upper Silesia to embark on a perilous odyssey into the safe haven of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen in Northwest Germany.

These are the memoirs of an eyewitness to the inhumane terror of war as well as the post-war nightmare of losing his home, his friends, and his homeland. But it is also a captivating story of determination to survive and to make a fresh start in freedom, in part with compassion and the assistance of humanitarian aid. Against this backdrop, seemingly unspectacular events such as going on a school trip, buying an exercise book, or disagreeing with a teacher’s method of instruction mark the stark contrast between the boy’s past in Nazi Germany, his war experience, and post-war life in a democracy which we have begun to take for granted.

Today, in a time when we face and discuss the fate of displaced persons on a daily basis, these memories can enrich our consciousness. Reminiscing about the past can help achieve an understanding of the present and ideally even shape a better future.

Günter Kühn, born in 1934, is Scientific Director Emeritus, historian, and specialist in German studies, author, and publisher of numerous publications on migration and integration in Europe.

This publication is also available in German.