Orphaned by the holocaust that consumed Germany during World War II, Hans Herman Baum has no clue to his identity other than a battered name tag. He cannot remember either his parents or his home – his only memories are of many other faceless, homeless children who never smiled or laughed. Brought to live in New York with his great-aunt Trudy, the frightened, bewildered child that was Hans becomes Harm, the warm friendly boy who gradually grows in self-confidence within the close community of the street. But when the tragedy of his past comes back to haunt him, he must try to understand what it truly means to be a child of the holocaust.