In a small village in West Prussia in the 1870s, Germans and Poles, Gypsies and Jews live together as neighbors. Johann, the rich owner of a large mill, does not want the Jew, Levin, to grind corn in his small boat mill. Assuming that the law is on his side since he is German, Johann opens the lock one night and washes Levin's mill away. Levin protests and the whole matter is brought to court. Due to a lack of witnesses, the judge decides in favor of Johann. Levin resigns and leaves town with his gypsy girlfriend, Marie. But Johann's life also changes for the worse. A circus comes to the town and performs a re-enactment of Johann's attack on Levin's mill. In a carnivalesque episode, circus performers and respectable villagers join together in solidarity, overcoming national differences in moral condemnation of Johann. The circus leaves, but Johann's shame remains, and he too eventually has to leave the community.