The Poet

Rachel, a rabbi's daughter, heads home but is swept into a blizzard and loses consciousness. Oscar Koenig, a German army officer undercover to hunt resistance fighters, finds her and carries her to safety. He tends to her injuries and reads poetry aloud, sparking an unexpected connection.

Over the next days, Oscar nurses Rachel back to health and reads the poems he writes to her. The close proximity and shared vulnerability deepen their bond. They begin to trust each other despite the war around them.

German soldiers destroy Rachel's village, killing her family. The act shatters her world and exposes the brutal reach of the conflict. Oscar's undercover role becomes more complicated as his feelings for Rachel intensify.

Oscar helps Rachel and her fiancé Bernard escape into the woods, shielding them from immediate danger. He refuses to accompany them, citing his duties and divided loyalties. His decision leaves him with painful questions about what he has become.

Back with his unit, Oscar wrestles with the moral costs of the war and his hidden love for Rachel. He seeks comfort in memories of her and in his mother’s disillusionment with the violence. The gulf between his duties and his feelings grows wider.

Rachel and Bernard find a farm in the mountains that shelters other Jews, and Rachel discovers she is pregnant with Oscar's child. Despite the danger, Bernard and Rachel marry in this fragile refuge. The news raises the stakes of their survival and binds them together in a fragile hope.

On the day of their wedding, German soldiers raid the farmhouse basement where Jews are hiding and kill everyone there. Bernard and Rachel escape again into the woods. The attack cements their determination to endure whatever comes next.

As they move toward the Soviet border, Rachel gives birth to their son in the woods. The family reaches the German camp at the border before Oscar, securing a temporary refuge. The birth adds hope and danger to their already perilous journey.

In the camp, Bernard takes a job cleaning latrines while Rachel becomes a singer, then a prostitute, as the soldiers tighten their control. Oscar continues fighting Soviet partisans, pressing toward the camp. The tension between duty, love, and survival grows heavier.

When Oscar finally reaches the camp, Rachel tells him about their son and their precarious life. He pleads for them to leave together and start anew, offering the possibility of a different future. She hesitates, torn between loyalty to Bernard and the pull of a fresh start with him.

Rachel goes to retrieve their son, hoping to flee with Oscar. Bernard's memory and sense of duty complicate the choice, but the chance of a new life drives her forward. The moment marks a turning point toward choosing love amid war.

In the camp tent, a German soldier lashes out at the crying baby and kills him in a fit of rage. Bernard and Rachel return to discover the tragedy and retaliate, killing the remaining soldier and fleeing the camp. The loss shatters their fragile hope and forces them deeper into the wilderness.

The couple, devastated by the tragedy, are taken in by Soviet partisans who share a common foe. Oscar continues his duties as a German officer while the trio moves within the partisan group. Survival now binds them more tightly than blood or nation could.

Oscar captures one of the partisans, and Rachel and Bernard are ordered to kill him. The assignment tests their loyalty and blurs the lines between love and murder in a war where alliances shift constantly. They confront the grim reality that their lives now depend on actions they never imagined.

Bernard distracts the other partisans to allow Rachel and Oscar to escape, but he is mortally wounded in the attempt. Oscar defeats the remaining partisans and vows to protect Rachel. The film closes with Rachel and Oscar grieving over Bernard's body and facing an uncertain future together.