Winter 1953 in East Berlin. Two-year-old Ursula and her siblings narrowly escape death. Abandoned by their mother, who has fled to the West, the children are found starving by their grandfather. Ursula is placed, separated from her sisters, in the children's home "Königsheide," a showcase facility of the GDR, where the children are to be developed into exemplary "socialist personalities." This marks the beginning of years of suffering for the girl. Ursula Burkowski movingly and simply describes her time in the children's home. She recounts her first experiences as a parentless little girl to the everyday problems of a young woman growing up, who slowly begins to internally rebel against the unfreedom she is subjected to. The author succeeds with admirable ease in bringing her past to life and touching the readers. "Weeping in the Dark," first published in 1992 and widely noted by media and politics, is considered a central book on the topic of institutional care. The new edition includes a current preface by the author, a greeting from the Thuringian Stasi documents commissioner Hildigund Neubert, as well as selected press reviews.