This is a fascinating story of four young children, who over four years travel across Europe in search of their father. Their father, trapped in a prison, has finally escaped, yet to a Warsaw now reduced to little more than rubble. His home was bombed, and his children are missing. He meets Jan, a street urchin and orphan, who helps him "jump" a train. Ruth, Edek, and their younger sister, the three children, now live across Warsaw waiting for their Father's return.

When Edek, the only one with a 'job' (smuggling food) is sent to a labor camp, Ruth and her younger sister suffer. Finding the street urchin, Jan, is the only reason they were able to survive. He helps them leave their home, the small cellar of a bombed building in search of their father. After finding Edek in his camp, and convincing the guards to let him go, they resume their dangerous journey. They find a kind farmer and his family, who lets them live on their farm.

When a patrolman comes to the farm, the farmer sends the children in canoes down a river. Several Nazis, and trucks deporting 'border-jumpers' almost catch the canoeing children, and Jan's dog Ludwig. They reach Switzerland, where they planned on meeting their parents. A new life and beginning await the three siblings, and Jan, the adopted son. This is a beautiful story of love and devotion of a small, poor Polish family living during WWII.