Starting with the sinister rumblings of World War II in 1939 up to the jubilant celebration of its end in 1945 and the bitter aftermath, this sweeping saga recounts the experiences of Pawel, a Polish Jew from Krakow. Pawel and his family are the early victims of the ravages of war. He narrowly escapes the concentration camps to become a member of the French Resistance, before being rescued by the British and enlisted in the Royal Air Force.
As the war escalates, Pawel and his fellow pilots engage in dangerous rescue missions and air combat across North Africa, Asia, the Mediterranean, Australia, and Europe, in a series of historic encounters that culminate in the Battle of Berlin. Against the background of death and destruction, Pawel fathers two children. His former Austrian fianc, Ada Eissmann, has spurned their love to return to her Nazi heritage, and has disowned their relationship and his paternity of the child she carries. After finding love again with Janelle and fathering her child, he is separated from her when they have to flee to safety to escape the Nazi death squads. Finding his love and his two children becomes a personal mission for him, representing hope and the chance for happiness after years of conflict, danger, deprivation and loss.