The poems include
touchingly romantic and sad expressions of Steffi''s youthful idealism and more
recent humorous epistles. "My first Year in Eretz Israel" picks up
the story where her previous book Jewish Girl in the Weimar Republic ends, with
Steffi''s arrival in 1934 at what was then Palestine. It is a lively description
of the Jewish agricultural settlers who came to Palestine in the early 1930''s.
"The Sekilaridis House" describes Steffi''s marriage to a Roman Catholic
Armenian, and their adventures in the multicultural society of Jerusalem in the
British Mandate of Palestine during World War II. "The Teeth of
Polycrates" is a satirical story about good luck that takes place on the
ship traveling from Brazil to the USA. "How I became a Teacher"
describes Steffi''s life in Zion, Illinois, and her enthusiastic achievement of
becoming a school teacher. "The Ones that Got Away" describes
Steffi''s project of collecting biographies of survivors of the Nazi Holocaust -
showing how they overcame suffering, found satisfying new roots, and became
successful contributors in countries to which they emigrated.