The love between Mateusz Krol, a Kashubian boy, and Marita von Krauss, a Prussian aristocrat in whose family home he is taken in when his mother dies, grows and matures thorough the years, while Kashubia, the northern Polish region where they live, suffers the consequences of the tragedies that will ravage Europe from the beginning of the 20th century until the end of the World War II.

1970年圣诞节的前2周，波兰共产党政府提升了食品的价格。就在第2天，Gdansk造船厂工人们就拒绝开始上班并在大街上进行游行。1970年12月17日星期四，45名抗议者被枪杀。影片以在这场暴乱中的一个抗议者的家庭为主线，讲述了这场抗议以及它的残酷镇压........