The turmoil of the last days of the war. 13-year-old Tom loses his mother while on the run. In Vienna he meets the one-legged black marketeer 'Krücke' - a sly, cunning survivalist and at the same time an adorable, kind friend. The two find shelter with Bronka, a Jewish woman who serves alcohol to Allied soldiers and black marketeers. Tom and Krücke settle into this insecure world. Krücke plays the saxophone, Tom waits tables, until one day a return to Germany becomes possible. But the train that the one-legged man and the boy board is stranded in no man's land...