Warsaw after the fall of the Warsaw Uprising. The Germans expel the civilian population and then proceed to systematically destroy the city. The capital is transformed into a sea of rubble, among which a few survivors hide – modern-day Robinsons. One of them is Piotr Rafalski, who rescues Krystyna, a wounded Jewish woman. Three soldiers of the People's Army, cooperating with a Soviet telegraph operator, are also in the city.