Erika Buchmann experienced five political systems: in her youth, the German Empire, followed by the Weimar Republic, the first German democracy, then the National Socialist dictatorship, against which she fought and as a victim of which she was imprisoned in the women's concentration camp Ravensbrück. After the end of the war, she initially chose the Federal Republic of Germany, but in 1956, the committed communist moved to the GDR. She often found herself in conflicts - with the party, but also with her role as a woman. Grit Philipp traces Erika Buchmann's life as a victim, political activist, as well as a wife and mother.