In 1945, twelve million homeless children roamed the ruins of a Europe that had barely emerged from the deadliest conflict it had ever known. An unprecedented number of children found themselves separated from their parents or orphaned. These lost, abandoned children, left to fend for themselves, would become spoils of war in the hands of nations seeking to rebuild. Under the guise of acting in the best interests of these children, the Allies embarked on a veritable race to secure children. Whether out of demographic opportunism or fear that they might be indoctrinated by a new totalitarian regime, they sorted, placed for adoption, and erased the identities of more than 500,000 of them.