The tragic fate of a young Jew, an involuntary witness to the extermination of his people and the cruelty of World War II. The film shows a variety of attitudes and people’s reactions to a ghetto runaway.
Jakub Goldberg kills in self-defense a fascist-sympathizer student and is sent to prison. When the war breaks out, he is released, but as a Jew he ends up in the ghetto, where he works as a gravedigger. After his mother’s death, he manages to sneak out to the “Aryan” side, where he finds shelter at different people’s houses. His tragic fate and constant need to hide have a very negative effect on his psyche. He wants to go back to the ghetto, but it has already been liquidated. Jakub joins the underground forces and works for a secret printing press. He dies in battle, killing himself and Nazis with grenades.
