After her husband dies, a German woman who gave up her infant for adoption to emigrate to America returns to Germany, discovering that her child is being raised by a married orchestra conductor.
The film is set in 1941 during the Second World War, when the city of Benghazi in Italian-ruled Libya was occupied by British forces. Italian inhabitants of Benghazi work to resist the British and discover their military plans. One man, Captain Enrico Berti, appears to be collaborating with the British but is in fact working undercover for Italian intelligence. The film ends with the city being recaptured by Italian troops and their Nazi German allies.
Two girls run away from a small village. Gyöngyi comes from an aristocratic family and her father throws her out of the house when he discovers she has gotten pregnant out of wedlock. She finds herself wandering the streets of Budapest and earns money playing the violin in a restaurant. Vica is an orphaned peasant; she is afraid of her stepfather and moves to the city where she gets a job on a construction site. Gyöngyi and Vica meet on the streets of Budapest, move in together and turn their lives around.
