In 1939, reluctant (and poetical) German soldier Oscar Koenig (Scarfe) is sent to Poland where he rescues beautiful Rachel (Dobrev) during a snowstorm. She turns out to be a Rabbi's daughter and engaged to someone else. They fall in love anyway but Oscar realizes that he must let her go and tells Rachel to flee towards the Russian front to escape the Nazis atrocities. A pregnant Rachel marries Bernard (Bennett), who accepts Oscar's son as his own, and they eventually all meet again at a German camp where more sacrifices must be made.