Irene Nickelburg was born in Allied occupied Germany after WWII and immigrated to America aboard the General Langfitt as a young child, living first in Iowa City, Iowa and then in Cleveland, Ohio. She assimilated easily into the American way of life, graduated from college, and became a teacher. She was forty-five years old when she stumbled upon the word "refugee" in an old newspaper article describing her family’s relocation to the U. S. That was the catalyst that sparked her interest in her family history and sent her on this epic journey to discover her roots.