OUT OF POLAND: There was a time when Europe was divided by the Iron Curtain two thousand miles long.

In December 1970, Henryk, a final-year student of electricalengineering at the Technical University of Gdansk, Poland, is involvedin a street demonstration of Polish shipyard workers in which twentypeople are killed. Because of his involvement, Henryk believes that hisarrest is imminent, and he frantically stows away on a ship toDenmark. But he leaves behind his first love, Ann, his parents, and hisbest friend, who is a nuclear physicist. From Denmark, he goes toHamburg, Germany, immigrates to Australia, surfs, and studies thesafety of nuclear reactors. But home beckons.Eight years later, Henryk crosses the Iron Curtain in search of Ann.But in the era of the Cold War, tight security, and the Solidarityresistance, his Australian passport does not give him the safety hehopes for. Faced with the frightening prospect of losing everythinghe's worked for, Henryk must choose between his past and his future.

Janus Ivering graduated in engineering from the TechnicalUniversity of Gdansk, Poland. For several years, he lived inGermany, Australia, and the United States, and was awarded thedegree of doctor of technical sciences in Austria in 1977. Ivering isretired from teaching at the University of Technology in Sydney,Australia.