This is a true story about forty Jewish children on their way to Palestine, who were blocked by the German and Italian occupation of Yugoslavia in 1941. Before finding a haven at Villa Emma in Nonantola in northern Italy, where they arrived on June 17, 1942, the children spent several adventurous months in Slovenia, caught up in the ongoing fight between the partisans and the Italian army. In April 1943, another 33 children, some from the Balkans, others from France, joined the original group. All were orphans who had lost their parents in concentration camps and had subsequently been smuggled out of Germany by Recha Freier, a well-known Zionist. The group ranged in age from six to twenty one and settled in at Villa Emma with their chaperones and teachers, Josef Indig, Marco Schoky and the pianist Boris Jochverdson.
20-year-old Georgi was adopted as a child. The family falls apart though and he ends up in a youth detention center. When released, he comes to face people's selfishness and disregard, He begins to steal things. The investigator working on his case talks to his adopted parents, his girlfriend and friends. Hiding from the police, Georgi ends up in a small town at the Black sea coast. He falls in love with his friend's sister Yana. Yet again, he finds no sympathy and understanding. He steals again. The investigator wants to help him but Georgi has given up all hope. He wants to commit suicide. Yana is the last spark of hope to bring him back to life.
The movie is set in the years of WWII. The partisans Stefan, Rado and Velko await a plane with weapon. The three men are trapped. Velko is killed. Rado and Stefan go to the Silent one. Only she knows the location where the weapon should be received. Army regiments arrive and a shootout begins. The plane drops the weapons. Stefan covers the others with machine gun while the Silent one and Rado leave with the weapon to the contingent