Seventeen-year-old Peter Stein survived the horrors of the Auschwitz concentration camp — including a death march. Completely exhausted physically and mentally, he arrives in his hometown, Prague. It is May 1945 and the city is joyfully celebrating the end of the war. The return of shadows from the past does not fit into this time of optimism. The search for his lost family, for friends, for love leads the young hero on an unexpectedly difficult path; he has to deal with his traumas, fears and his distrust of his surroundings. He realizes that the war has left unheald wounds — not just in himself. The post-war world is changing irrevocably and none of what he dreamed of in captivity will turn out the way he imagined.

The suggestive and exciting story is by no means just another reappraisal of the Holocaust. It covers the time afterwards and confronts readers with events that are little known. The novel is moreover a carefully researched historical document; readers will learn about historical facts.