She discusses the extreme deterioration of the circumstances the Jewish community faced in the city, offering a detailed account of the increasingly restrictive anti-Jewish laws, the psychological anguish and despair, the loss of their rights and liberties and the confiscation of property they endured.

Heyman started writing her diary on her thirteenth birthday 13 February 1944 (the same year Germany occupied Hungary).

In 1931, the year she was born, it was part of Romania; in her diary, Heyman calls it "Varad", short for Nagyvárad, a colloquial name widely used.

Heyman recalls watching the arrival of Miklós Horthy from the window of her grandfather's pharmacy.

[2] Being raised in a political family, Heyman and her grandparents would have been expecting rough treatment as the Nazis approached Nagyvárad in 1944.

She writes of a pleasant party with tea, sandwiches, and a type of chocolate cake called Sachertorte.

She is given a navy blue knit dress, a light tan spring coat and for the first time two pairs of sheer stockings.

[1] She writes of her mother burning books written by Béla Zsolt, who she calls "Uncle Bela", and the destruction of works by other authors who were deemed dangerous like Ferenc Molnár.