For many people, stories of life behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War may now appear as strange curiosities amid the Internet age. Equally for many, though, those "strange curiosities" were harsh, only too real realities of a mode of existence whose daily concern is how to survive yet another day.

Ernst O. Krause's life is one such story. Amid the turmoil of German defeat in World War II and the division of the country into communist and democratic zones of influence, Ernst Krause depicts how the resulting division has affected lives throughout the nation, vividly recounting the loss of social status, modes of living, and the general tragedy among the populace, along with the political apathy that met it across the western zone.

Surrounded by the often grim upheavals in his country, Ernst trudges on with his passion to make a life for himself, at the same time chronicling his deep observations for posterity in this, his story.

Always, Krause endeavors to follow the advice of his Prussian grandfather: "When you are asked to perform a task, execute it the best way possible. Be doubly careful when no one is watching, because that is the time when most people get sloppy."