On the way to Warsaw after a crude oil fraud in southern Poland, conman Adam Deren meets singer Liza. He decides to invest his money in a venture deemed to be a failure - a small cabaret where Liza could perform.
Stefan Starzyński, the mayor of Warsaw, organizes life in the capital in September 1939 and lift the inhabitants' spirits via radio announcements. After the surrender, he does not use his last chance to escape.