Parallel Journeys is a true story about the terrors of Nazi Germany and the Holocaust, told through the narratives of its victims. Helen Waterford is one of these victims, a Jewish girl born in the early 1900's. In 1933, she married, and the Helen and her husband, Siegfried, lived together happily for a time. Yet, as Hitler's power grew in the country, the two decided it was best to flee to the Netherlands.
In the Netherlands, the two had a daughter named Doris. However, while visiting in Holland, Germany's troops captured both Helen and her husband, while Doris was able to remain safe. Doris was dropped off at another home, but Helen and Siegfried were separated while going to the concentration camp, and never saw one another again.
In a neighborhood close to where Helen grew up was a boy named Alfons. As a young boy, he became a member of the Hitler Youth organization, where he quickly excelled through the ranks. Becoming a glider pilot, Alfons was well respected while Helen was forced into labor at Birkenau and in Czechoslovakia.
Soon, the war ends, and Alfons is arrested. He, however, is set free, but he feels very guilty for what the Nazi's had done. He eventually moves to the United States. Helen is liberated by the Allied troops, and finds her daughter. They too move to America.
Helen finds a newspaper article that Alfons had written about the war, and the two meet each other once again, remembering how they had lived so close by. They discussed how, even though they came from the same area, their life journeys were completely different.
