Introduction

It takes courage beyond belief to sneak out in the night to dig in the garbage for scraps to keep from starving when you know you would be killed if you were caught, or to crawl through ice and snow to freedom because the muscles in your legs atrophied from sitting in a hay mow for almost two years.

To defect to the west, leaving all your family behind, not knowing when or if you'll ever see them again, or to endure the work, starvation diet, and beatings of concentration camp life also were courageous acts.

However, these and other challenges were everyday living for millions such as those in this book.

While those around them fell victim to WWII atrocities and did not survive, these people fought hard and won the right to live.