In 1938, a young woman leaves Germany to search for her love, Erich, in Reichenburg, Bohemia. Erich is secretly fighting the fascists, so Hilde ends up becoming a housemaid in the home of a German joiner in order to carry on their relationship. The joiner`s son notices the passionate love shared between Hilde and Erich. To him, the young lady embodies the feminine ideal. When Hilde receives news of Erich`s death, she descends into an uninhibited lifestyle in an attempt to forget. The boy then notices a shift in her emotional state to that of horror and disappointment. Hilde senses that her behavior towards the boy puts him into a fatalistic state of mind. She attends to him and shows him the secrets of love.