During WW2, a local partisan in a Nazi-occupied country blows-up a German army train. Apart from the damages, the Germans also lose three men. In accordance with their usual policies in occupied countries, the Germans take ten hostages for every dead German soldier. Therefore, the German company occupying the village where the sabotage occurred takes thirty male hostages from among the local villagers. Some hostages act with dignity and bravery, others are cowards and a few try to curry favor with the Germans in order to be spared. The German commander, Captain Langenau, orders the hostages to line-up in the village square and places his soldiers manning heavy machine-guns in front of the hostages. He announces that he will free all the hostages if the partisan responsible for the sabotage-act surrenders by four o'clock in the afternoon. The partisan responsible for the sabotage is Mirko. He has conscience problems about allowing 30 innocent hostages to be shot for a deed he committed. Unsure about it, Mirko talks to the local priest, Don Stefano, who urges him to surrender to the Germans in order to spare the lives of the hostages. Mirko also talks to his partisan group leader in the partisan mountain hideout. His leader advises Mirko to stay hidden, even if the Germans will execute the civilian hostages. This is an acceptable outcome in time of war and the responsibility would rest with the Germans if they shoot the innocent villagers. Mirko convinces his partisan leader to muster the 33 partisans under his command and attempt a surprise attack on the 47 German soldiers occupying the village. However, on the way to the village, the partisans notice a new German motorized column arriving into the village to reinforce Captain Langenau's troops. Realizing they're severely outnumbered and outgunned, the partisans abort their plan to attack. Mirko sneaks into the village and goes home to his wife. He continues to agonize over his dilemma of surrendering to the enemy or staying safely hidden. His wife urges him to run away into the mountains. Angry at the cowardice of the saboteur whose refusal to surrender imperils the lives of 30 villagers, the relatives and families of these 30 hostages decide to find-out who the culprit is and to give him to the Germans themselves. The mayor promises to help them catch the saboteur. The priest, who knows the identity of the saboteur, tries one more time to persuade him to surrender. But Mirko stubbornly refuses to comply. The deadline for surrender approaches fast and time is running out for the 30 innocent hostages about to be executed in the village square.