It was a balancing act between two worlds – the safe, secure life in Germany on the one hand and the magical attraction of a foreign country on the other. With time, for the journalist and author, Brigitte ­Schulze, Ukraine became a second home. She lived and worked there for more than twenty-five years.Kiev, Odessa, Kharkiv, Lviv, Dnipropetrovsk were some of the ­stations of her life in Ukraine – a life that was not always without personal risks. Courageously she met all challenges and implemented professional projects together with partners from Germany, ­Ukraine, and the countries of the European Union. When the war in East Ukraine began, she was appointed as an ­observer for the “Organization for Security and Cooperation in ­Europe” (OSCE).Then came the first thoughts of leaving her beloved Ukraine. What had happened? What was the last straw? With her Ukrainian friends she found warmth and support but the social and bureaucratic structures of the country wore her continually down. Corruption and ­resentment had replaced the ideal of a common prosperity. At the same time, she had to see the people in eastern Ukraine suffer the effects of a dramatic conflict. The hope to bring about peace could not be ­realized.The story contained in this book can be read like a novel. But it is the true story of Brigitte Schulze.