A Jewish ghetto in the east of Europe, 1944. By coincidence, Jakob Heym eavesdrops on a German radio broadcast announcing the Soviet Army is making slow by steady progress towards central Europe. In order to keep his companion in misfortune, Mischa, from risking his life for a few potatoes, he tells him what he heard and announces that he is in possession of a radio - in the ghetto a crime punishable by death. It doesn't take long for word of Jakob's secret to spread - suddenly, there is new hope and something to live for - and so Jakob finds himself in the uncomforting position of having to come up with more and more stories.
Maria, a young student sees her brother Dieter going to prison for sedition against the state. She starts an affair with Paul, a judge who turns out to be the one who sentenced her brother, which eventually leads to a confrontation.
Mexico in the 1870s. The French expeditionary force lands in Mexico. Emperor Napoleon III of France and local conservatives establish a monarchy in the country and decide to place their protégé, Archduke Maximilian of Habsburg, on the Mexican throne. In the ensuing war of national liberation, the freedom-loving Indians, the Maztecs, led by their chief Bear's Eye, side with the legitimate deposed president of Mexico, Benito Juárez.
