A penal gymnastics session is underway during a roll call in a concentration camp. A brutal voice shouts furious commands: "nieder - auf!" (down – up!). One of the prisoners will not obey the commands, another one will almost survive
Lonely, old parents living on a small farm look forward to their son's visit. The man finally shows up one day, but he separates himself from his parents with a newspaper. Inadvertently, he drops a slice of bread. His father picks it up respectfully.
Zofia is an elderly woman living in an retirement home. Separate from the rest, she talks seldom and then only about visiting her daughter's family for Christmas. When she comes to her daughter's home unannounced, her stay is spoiled by the damage to her son-in-law doctorate bookmarks which she removed unknowingly during dusting. She then spends Christmas in an empty restaurant, surrounded by waiters and musicians waiting to be tipped.
