Sandulescu was conscripted in Romania at age 16 by the occupying Soviet army in the latter days of World War II and transported to work in the coal mines of the Donbas region of Ukraine.

The book describes life in Europe in the immediate aftermath of the war from the perspective of the author's experiences as a displaced person and his involvement with the black market of the time.

After passing initial emigrant screening, Sandulescu fails the medical exam due to elevated blood pressure and is forced to remain in camp for an extended period until he can be re-tested.

[4] The book includes vivid word pictures of the lives of ordinary civilians in the aftermath of the war, with rationing and shortages leading many to trade on the black market to eat well or just to survive.

Obtaining leave from his unit, he travels to the small village where he had buried, six years earlier in a heavily wooded area, fourteen golden goblets looted from a Bavarian castle.