Donald Jurgens buries his father but is goaded by his irascible Aunt Mildred to find his family's old trunk. It contains family photos, but some very unusual items - a pair of passports, a Luger and a Nazi Iron Cross medal. In addition, the trunk contains notebooks, diaries kept by Don's Mother, Frieda, that detail the years, from 1929 through 1945. At first, the diaries tell of a young couple struggling to get through the Depression, start a business and have a child, with very little money or hope. But the story soon turns dark, detailing Hugo and Frieda's slide from hard working, God Fearing, Christians to Nazi Spies selling secrets obtained by Frieda from her employer, a major defense contractor. Unknown to them the secrets pertain to a major element of Project Manhattan. But the Nazis have much bigger plans for Freda and Hugo, and draw them into a plot that requires them to travel to Berlin where they are coerced into participation into a diabolical scheme to import an atomic bomb into America.