Interlocking narratives, told out of chronological order, about partisans in the Second World War who are a band of nihilistic marauders, roaming the countryside and dispensing what they see as justice to those they consider collaborators with the enemy.

Mother Maria Skobtsova, a Russian nun, helps Jews and other people hated by the Gestapo during World War II. Eventually, the Gestapo finds out and takes her away to the Ravensbruk Concentration Camp.