On the battlefields of World War I begins the story of Alois Fiedler, which his son, "Stern" author Teja Fiedler, tells with sensitivity and from close range: The farmer's son and Austro-Hungarian lieutenant rises to become a respected notary in Bohemia after the war. But then his wife becomes mentally ill, Adolf Hitler brings the Sudeten Germans "home to the Reich," and during World War II, Alois fears for his older sons in Russia. When the Third Reich collapses, the Red Army saves him from Czech partisans, but he is then imprisoned as a traitor and ultimately expelled from his homeland with his family. In the impoverished town of Plattling in Lower Bavaria, the destitute refugee tries to make a difficult new start.