This somber drama chronicles the writings of Paltiel Kossover (Michel Jonasz), a Rumanian Jew who was incarcerated in a Stalinist prison. Zupanev (Erland Josephson) is a sympathetic court registrar who smuggles the documents and later presents them to the poet's son Grisha (Vincent David).
In a drama in which even Gad has a role as well as Michael York, it is certain that serious issues are at stake. Set during the time before the state of Israel was created and established, a British officer has been captured by a band of Jewish resistance fighters with the intent of killing him at dawn. One of the Jews was sentenced to die after being captured by the English, and this death will be in retaliation. The trouble is that a young and ambivalent fighter is left holding the officer captive with orders to shoot him at the pre-arranged time. It is a long night of soul-searching before the Jewish soldier comes up with a solution to his quandary.
