Luitpold Steidle was a member of the Nazi Party and a Wehrmacht officer. In January 1943, he, along with the remnants of his regiment, was captured in the Stalingrad cauldron. Subsequently, Steidle became disillusioned with the Nazi regime and joined the National Committee of Free Germany. After the end of the war, he joined the government of the GDR from the Christian Democratic Union, where he served as Minister of Health, and then became mayor of Weimar. This book is Steidle's memoirs, in which he talks about how a radical turning point occurred in his mind.