"In this collection of poetry, Alice Derry contemplates an awkward, even taboo, subject - the persecution and suffering of the German population before, during, and after World War II.". ""Before I realized that I was becoming part of a contaminated language and people, I was part of them," writes Derry in her introductory essay, a discussion of racism, ethnic prejudice, and learned hatred. She divides the poems into two sections, the first telling the stories of her German relatives trapped behind the Iron Curtain, often from their point of view. The second section ponders the distinct experiences of German Americans."--BOOK JACKET.