This is the story of the family of Rita Baltutt at the end of World War II in the part of Germany known as East Prussia. When the Soviets conquered East Prussia in 1945, like many other German children these four little girls were effectively orphaned when their parents were taken for forced labor into the Soviet Union. This is the story of their struggle for survival. Left to fend for themselves in a burned-out town, they faced starvation, dehydration, drunken Russian soldiers, and roving gangs of lawless boys.