Dave Barkey

Twelve-year old Johann Stein witnessed the execution of his rabbi father when the family was incarcerated at Auschwitz. Escaping at his mother's urging, he survived in Warsaw hiding from the Gestapo and stealing clothes and food from unguarded yards. After the demise of the Third Reich, Johann survived by finding odd jobs. He would eventually enroll in the Polytechnic University to become an engineer. When one of his professors invited him to a social evening at his home, he met Genevieve Pulansky, the professor's daughter, a nurse. In spite of a courtship that revealed their opposing world views, they married expecting their love would prevent the friction that proved to be inevitable. Johann's agnosticism versus Genevieve's Catholicism erupted when pregnancy occurred earlier than Johann's planning allowed. Neither divorce nor abortion were acceptable to Genevieve. Their turbulent relationship included their son Leland who was rejected by his father. Would a hell-on-earth existence plague this family forever?