From the Danube to the Californias, from World War 2 to the American Dream

Ildiko Bartnicki had a simple but secure childhood in her native Hungary. But soon there were whisperings of war—first came the arrival of refugees from Transylvania, then the isolation and segregation of her Jewish friends and neighbors. It was terrifying, yet nobody dared ask what was happening.

After surviving the war, life was better, but without freedom of speech or the ability to travel or start her own business. In 1956, the unthinkable happened: a revolution. Many brave young people died, but without help from the West, their strength was no match against Soviet tanks.

After immigrating to California, Ildiko became a scientific illustrator at the University of California, where she met and married a professor whose internationally respected work took him all around the world. She was fortunate to join him on many of his travels, finally free to see a world she never thought she could. This memoir tells the story of a remarkable woman whose life was shaped by war and revolution and who had the courage to start over.