Forty autumns: a family's story of courage and survival on both sides of the Berlin Wall

Family and Historical Chronology

PART ONE. The Handover : End of War (1945) ; An Iron Curtain Descends : Cold War Begins (1945-1946) ; "If You Want to Get Out, Do It Soon" : Close Calls and Escapes (1946-1948) ; Flight : A Small Suitcase and The Final Escape (August 11, 1948)

PART TWO. Two Castles : Out of the Whirlwind (1948-1949) ; A Sister Born in the East : The Stasi Takes Control (1949-1952) ; "We Want To Be Free" : A Workers' Uprising (1953) ; The Visit : Sisters Meet (1954) ; Life Normalizes in a Police State : A Courtship (1955-1957) ; The Fur Coat : Last Meeting (1958-1959)

PART THREE. "A Wall Will Keep the Enemy Out" : A Wall to Keep the People In (1960-1961) ; The Family Wall : Oma's Faith and Opa's Defiance (1962-1965) ; Only Party Members Succeed : "We Have Each Other" (1966-1969) ; A Message With No Words : Oma's Love from Afar (1970-1974) ; Dissidents and Troublemakers : Opa Committed (1975-1977) ; A Light Shines : "Our Souls Are Free" (1977) ; A Surprise from America : Innocence (1978-1980)

Paradise Bungalow : Refuge and Solace (1980-1982)

PART FOUR. Assignment: Berlin : Intelligence Operations (1982-1984) ; Face-to-Face with Honecker : Mission in Ludwigslust (1984-1985) ; Beyond the Checkpoint : Passage (1985) ; Imagine : The Road Ahead (1986) ; "Tear Down This Wall" : Winds of Change (1987-1988) ; "Gorby, Save Us!" : A Nation Crumbles (1989) ; The World is Stunned : "Schabowski Said We Can!" or The Wall Falls (November 9, 1989) ; Dawn : Leaving the East (Autumn 1989) ; Reunion and Rebirth : Together Again (1990- 2013)

Epilogue.