As the Russian army advances on war-torn Prussia at the end of World War II, Marike Weins gathers her four young children and flees for Denmark, the only place willing to accept German refugees. Marike arrives in Danzig just as the Allied bombs begin to fall. She and her children pick their way through the rubble to reunite with Marike's gravely ill father and the rest of her family. Together, they board an overcrowded, disease-infested ship bound for Denmark. Arriving at the refugee camp, Marike's hopes for a safe haven are dashed when she discovers the Danes have been forced to create the camps under orders from the occupying German army. Danish hostility toward the mostly women and children who cross their borders is palpable. Behind the barbed wire, Marike and her family face near starvation, illness, mistreatment, and heart-rending conditions. Moved from camp to camp, Marike struggles to keep her family alive and to hold onto their Mennonite faith. Her only hope for survival lies with her husband, Horst, who is missing in action on the Eastern Front. But as the months go by and thousands of refugees perish around her, Marike must find a new solution to save her family.