Poles’ attitudes to the Holocaust and helping the helpless ghetto refugees shown on the example of the small Rutka and the washer-woman Kulgawcowa who saved her.
Kulgawcowa, who before the war worked at the doctor’s house, agrees – for money – to help her former employer’s daughter get out of the ghetto. She is to take her to the countryside to hide Rutka with her cousins. The washer-woman doesn’t like Jews but she’s touched by the kid’s ordeal and decides to help. She manages to get the girl out of the ghetto and Rutka sleeps at Kulgawcowa’s house. Jańcia, the washer-woman’s daughter is clearly hostile towards the small refuge. On the next day Kulgawcowa takes Rutka to the countryside by train. Passengers’ conversations show the different attitudes towards Jews. One passenger proves to be a blackmailer. He blackmails Kulgawcowa, demanding a ransom, however another passenger’s intervention makes the danger disappear. At the end of their trip, they must go on foot. They are already close to their destiny when unexpectedly they meet a German soldier. While the soldier is checking Rutka’s Aryan documents, a photo of her parents falls out. The girl’s true identity is exposed, which means a death sentence. Kulgawcowa can leave, but she decides to accompany the girl till the end.
