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Milt Ost, a resident of Thorne Crest Senior Living Community, has written “It All Began with a Coca-Cola,” a harrowing biographical account of an Albert Lea couple who grew up under Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany. Toward the end of World War II they fled the Russian Communist forces under terrifying conditions. The couple, Gerhard and Irmi Kleih, are still residents of Albert Lea.

At the center of the account is Gerhard Kleih, whose father worked for the German National Postal Service and was “requested” to become a Nazi Party member. After the invasion of Poland, he was transferred to that country. With the end of the war approaching, the Communist forces swept east, forcing the Germans to flee. Their flight forced them into circumstances that decades later brought tears to Gerhard’s eyes in telling some of the details.

The ensuing weeks brought deprivation and suffering, which no human being should have to endure. But endure they did.

After the war’s end Gerhard was fortunate enough to obtain a visa to immigrate to America. But after seven months, with the Cold War on the horizon, he was drafted into the U.S. Army. Destiny returned him to Germany as a soldier, and there he met a young woman, Irmi, who was to become his wife.

Growing up in Czechoslovakia, she faced some of the same harrowing circumstances, which are detailed in the book.

“It All Began with a Coca-Cola” is due to be published this fall.