Renè grows up in East Germany. He completes an apprenticeship as a bricklayer, endures a tough military service, and then studies to become a civil engineer. Just as his career as an engineer begins promisingly in the mid-eighties, he is already pressured by the Stasi. During a trip for award winners, he travels to Saarland with a youth group that is, of course, monitored by the Stasi. His first impressions of West Germany shake the worldview that has been instilled in him since childhood. Together with another participant, he makes a spontaneous plan to escape. Many adventures in quick succession define his new life. His family, left behind in East Germany, comes under increasing pressure due to his escape, which the Stasi initially covers up. When he learns that they also want to flee, another dangerous adventure begins for him. This book is based on true events. The author vividly portrays the different ways of life during this time in both parts of Germany and hopes that this will never be forgotten.