A novel of the Holocaust based on the author's own experiences chronicles the ordeal of one family, forced from their home and struggling to cope with the destruction, deprivation, and death around them, from the perspective of a single survivor. The tragic tale of the Lustig family doctor Leopold; his wife, Caroline; their children, Zerlina and Paul; and Caroline's sister, Ida who are sent to the walled city of Ruhenthal after authorities label them forbidden. Taking place during an unspecified period of war and genocide, the story is based on Adler's experiences at Theresienstadt, a labor camp where he was imprisoned for two and a half years during WWII.