Hoping to prevent violence, professor David Cohen joins the Nazi-imposed Jewish Council, but continued deportations drive his family toward resistance.
After an SS inspection, the Jewish Council enforces Nazi orders to avoid worse, while Piet Meerburg’s resistance ring grows with Virrie’s help and family tensions escalate.
As the SS breaks promises and targets even the exempt, Asscher resists, Cohen saves Virrie from deportation—only to be condemned by her as a collaborator.
After the war, survivors like the Cohens return to a difficult homecoming marked by legal battles, accusations of collaboration, and Virrie’s lasting resentment toward her father’s impossible wartime choices.
Hoping to prevent violence, professor David Cohen joins the Nazi-imposed Jewish Council, but continued deportations drive his family toward resistance.