It is 1938. Berta Weissberger,twelve years old, lives in Hindenburg, Germany, with her mother and older sister. Her father has already left for America, and the family is awaiting the arrival of thei rAmerican visas. These hopes and plans are destroyed at the end of October 1938, however, when Jews are rounded up, loaded onto trucks, and driven to the Polish border. They are forced to cross a river into Poland and ordered, "Keep wlaking and do not turn back. Anyone attempting to turn back will be shot." So begins Bertel's six-year terrifying odyssey in Nazi-occupied Poland. While living a life of constant vigilance an fear. Bertel grows inot womanhood. Again and again, Providence steps in and saves her, guiding her to the righ tperson or place.