It's the start of 1945. Jacob, a twelve-year-old Jewish boy, is hiding in a cellar with his sister and uncle, in an evacuated village somewhere in the Liemers. Above their heads a fierce battle is raging over the freedom of the Netherlands. One day Jacob is above ground and runs into a heavily wounded German soldier who is trying to disguise himself as a Canadian soldier in a desperate attempt to save himself from the Allied forces. When the soldier faints, Jacob decides to help him and takes him down into the cellar, while keeping the identity of the soldier a secret for his sister and uncle.