Lisa Held, a survivor of Auschwitz in 1946 Holland, becomes entangled with the ex-Nazi Thorens, who promises to smuggle her into Palestine for payment but secretly intends to send her to South America for sex work. Unbeknownst to them both, they are being trailed by Dutch Police Inspectors Peter Jongman and Wolters, who carry the weight of a painful past and the stain of wartime guilt. Jongman, in particular, bears the burden of having served as a policeman under the Nazi occupation and failing to save his Jewish fiancée, Rachel, from death.
After追踪 Thorens and Lisa to London, [Peter Jongman] confronts [Thorens]. During their tense encounter, Thorens strikes him, sending him crashing onto an imitation SS dagger he’s holding. Believing Thorens has merely been knocked senseless, Jongman leaves, unaware that the Nazi is dying. Meanwhile, Lisa escapes Thorens’s flat via a window. On the riverbank, Lisa, recognizing Jongman’s身份 as a policeman, asks whether he killed Thorens; he denies it. Lisa, who knew Thorens was an ex-Nazi, had hoped he would keep his word. As Jongman prepares to depart, he glimpses Lisa on a brink of despair and seems ready to jump; he changes his mind, returns, and pledges to help her.
Back in Amsterdam, Jongman takes Lisa to visit his mother and sister. His mother initially suspects Lisa is using him, until Lisa reveals she was in Auschwitz’s experimental ward. Later, Jongman returns to Dutch police headquarters and faces superior scrutiny about Thorens’s death. He insists he struck Thorens but did not kill him, privately doubting that Thorens’s death was accidental and suspecting Lisa may have been involved.
To make amends, Jongman takes time off to help Lisa reach Palestine. Through hard-won contacts, he secures work for them on a barge owned by Brandt, a crusty but goodhearted captain who earns their respect. Along the journey, Lisa and Jongman grow closer, drawing the admiration of Brandt.
When they reach Tangiers, Lisa and Jongman seek passage with a Dutch smuggler named Van der Pink, referred by Brandt, but his price proves prohibitive. Jongman admits his love, but Lisa remains insecure about her future as wife or mother due to the lingering effects of the Auschwitz experiments on her reproductive organs. A British agent named Dickens informs Jongman that he is wanted on suspicion of manslaughter for Thorens’s death. Dickens urges Lisa to testify at the Nuremberg War Trials, but Jongman pushes her toward Palestine, fearing she would again be treated as a medical exhibit.
Jongman secures passage on Van der Pink’s vessel in exchange for agreeing to captain a ship for a year without pay. He also strikes a separate deal with the British: if Palestine is opened to Lisa, he will surrender himself. Van der Pink, who is smuggling arms into Palestine, tricks Jongman into swearing that his ship isn’t carrying weapons. Lisa asks whether he would stay in Palestine, but he must honor his word to the British and to Van der Pink. When Jongman learns of Van der Pink’s deceit, the captain hands him a letter stating that the contract to a year’s service has been torn up.
As the ship nears Palestine, it fends off an attack by gunrunners from North Africa seeking to seize Van der Pink’s cargo. Lisa is shot and wounded. Jongman reluctantly hands Lisa over to Jewish forces to fulfill his promise, while she hesitates at parting with him. In the end, Jongman chooses to surrender to the British, accepting a return to standing trial for Thorens’s accidental death.
