As the synagogues of Berlin burn and Jewish homes are plundered, two families face the grim reality of life in the new Germany. Anna Lindheim's sister Helen and her pastor husband Karl Isben are arrested for helping the Jews. The Isben children, Lori and Jamie, must find a way to escape their Nazi pursuers and get past the iron gates that keep them imprisioned in the Reich. Young Peter Wallich, with his mother, sister and baby brother, faces the same dilemma. How can he, a Jew, get them out of Vienna to safety? How can they reach Danzig, the one place that offers hope, and the promise of freedom? And then there is Lucy, in such desperate straits herself. How can she possibly help these children?