The farm workers at Näs Farm, lead by Hellman, go on strike, demanding that their employer recognize their labor union. But he calls on strike-breakers to perform the farm work. Hellman's son Gunnar is a hothead who easily gets in trouble.
Celestin is the singing teacher in a monastery and Denis is one of her students. They both dream about the life outside. (It's a Swedish version of the famous vaudeville-opérette "Mam'zelle Nitouche").
A waitress finds out that her fourteen year old brother is a member of a youth gang doing burglaries in kiosks. Valdemar Jansson escapes prison and seeks out his fiancee Karin, but she does not want to know about him. She studies at the Social Institute and provides herself as a waitress in a cafe. She lives with her grandmother and her younger brother Benke. One day she discovers that Benke belongs to a boy, who makes minor burglaries in newspaper kiosks.
Ulla and Gunnar meet and fall in love in Stockholm in the late 1930s. Early in their relationship Ulla discovers that she is pregnant but she decides to get an abortion because she doesn't want to pressure Gunnar into marrying her. The outbreak of the war puts a strain on their relationship when Gunnar gets called up for military service.
