As a child of eight, Sylvia snuck out of Germany with her family, to Belgium which was soon defeated by Germany. The family joined thousands of refugees fleeing into France, experienced Dunkerque during the Allied troop evacuation, but ended up returning to Brussels. Sylvia describes these travails as well as how she survived the war hiding under an assumed name, first in a castle, then in a convent, and finally in a home for juvenile delinquents.