This book will keep you spell bound. Like sitting on the edge of your seat at a movie. You are scared for Walter and his family! Best of luck to Annalise and her family, God Bless You! - Brenda V.

This is one of the most important books providing historical insight by a Holocaust survivor. Dr Leopold was an intelligent, courageous individual living with his wife and young daughter in Leipzig at the outbreak of WW II. His diary notes, held unread for decades by his daughter, finally came to light by those who could chronicle, translate and publish this profoundly poignant account of the unimaginable physical and emotional horrors faced daily by a German Jew in hiding. It took me longer than usual to read this book because I so often referred to the footnotes and other resources to obtain a clearer picture. This was like taking a semester long college seminar. - Bonnie

The story of Walter Leopold and his family is truly an amazing one. Standing out among Holocaust stories, perhaps because so few of his fellow Jews escaped the way he did, this book accounts for how Mr. Leopold managed to evade deportation and pass for an Aryan long enough to see Hitler's and the Nazi regime's downfall in Germany/Austria. And his small family survived with him.

This book was a very special read, a one of a kind I haven't experienced before. One can't help posing questions like "What if Nazi Germany had not lost the war? How far would Walter have had to bow to the existing system to be able to survive? Would Walter and his family forever have been able to pass as Aryans, living in a society where every trace of their Jewish heritage had disappeared? They yearned for their lost Jewish community in Leipzig. What if their vigilance had slipped, exposing them to their enemies?" Walter also gives us an inside view of what it is like to live in a totalitarian state for an extended period, although thanking the Almighty for the privilege of, after all, being alive to experience it. He describes it perhaps better than many other books I've read, with phrases like "... A tough test it is... a denial of self...". He shows great ability for reflection on behalf of the Allies and the European post-war future. The diary form, held together by the comments by Walter's nephew Les Leopold makes this a very exciting and informative read. I'm actually stunned because of all the complicated post-war issues this book presents.- Diddi