This book provided a fascinating account of the anti-Semitic machine of Hitler's army as they began to annex Czechoslovakia in 1938. This story is told from two perspectives: a Holocaust archivist who has discovered a tangible connection to her area of specialty and a young Czech nanny in charge of a 6-year old boy named Pepik, son to wealthy secular Jews. When political decisions are made within Eastern Europe this family tries to leave their home for safety. However, Nazism proves too powerful and the only person who can leave is little Pepik, who manages to be evacuated on a Kindertransport to Scotland. I found this novel to be extremely informative, and desperately sad.