They say everyone has a story worthy of a book. Not everyone has the courage to remember that story and to write down. When Frank Oberle decided to break a long silence and to tell his story for his grandchildren, he had no idea how emotionally difficult the work would be. But the work was done and now we have the books in English and in German.

Finding Home: a war child's journey to peace, is the fantastic story of an adolescent boy's survival in the aftermath of World War II, fleeing the Russian advance on an 800-kilometre trek from Poland to home, living on only what could be found or stolen. The young Franz (Frank) Oberle witnessed the bombing in Dresden, then reached his home on the edge of the Black Forest, but his parents had not returned and his remaining family rejected him.

He was taken in by the mother of his soon-to-be sweetheart, Hanna. He took his apprenticeship as a baker and the two of them dreamed of emigrating and starting fresh. With Hanna's blessing, Frank left for Canada, promising to send for her as soon as he could. Their life together in B.C. was pure adventure with all its hardships and triumphs, as Frank worked as dishwasher in Vancouver, logger in the Queen Charlotte Islands, gold miner near Lillooet. They finally headed north, to what was then the frontier, where they opened a gas station and where Frank began his political career first as fire chief, then mayor, then federal politician.

This is a love story, full of drama and humour ... a true saga of the Canadian immigrant.

A Chosen Path: from Moccasin Flats to Parliament Hill, continues the adventure told in Finding Home. Now elected to the House of Commons in Ottawa, Frank Oberle served six terms as Member of Parliament, being appointed both as Minister of State for Science and Technology then as Minister of Forestry—a remarkable achievement from self-educated immigrant to national politician and Cabinet minister.

Ausgewandert : von der badischen Backstube zum Minister in Kanada is the German translation (by Ursula Schoendorff) of the two books combined.