This is a story of survivors. Jan Fischer survived Stalin's labor camps because he recognized the eternal Jewish prayer Shema recited in the breadline of the labor camp. Lidia Szylberstajn evaded the Nazi death camps from which most of her family did not survive, only to survive two years in Siberia, before meeting Jan in Egypt. It is the story of Lidia's cousin, Solange Najman, the only one from their family to survive Auschwitz, and of their uncle, Adophe Szylberstajn, who survived fighting in the French underground. In the end, it is the story of how a Jewish family survived the holocaust and its aftermath, and what remains of that family.

Author Andrew Fischer began this work to document the stories of his parents for his children and grandchildren. His work grew into something larger. Over time, it has also become the story of the French sons of Solange, Maurice Najman, the journalist and political activist, and Charles Najman, the author and filmmaker and artist of many talents, of uncles and cousins and a family's survival. In the end, the work raises questions about the holocaust and the survival, not just of Jewish families and individuals but of the survival of Jewish life in Europe and the survival of the Jewish people.