Tadeusz returns to Poland after twenty years of peaceful life as an emigrant, following a letter from his son Maciek, who reveals the health condition of his mother, who went partially mad during the occupation after the death of her younger son, Jędrek. To the protagonist, who did not live through the experiences of the war, reality seems completely incomprehensible, and he finds no help in Maciek, who, on the other hand, cannot escape the nightmare of the war. Tadeusz unsuccessfully tries to uncover the truth about the death of his younger son, whether it was caused by the Germans or by members of the resistance.
