The young man, originally a Jew, is deeply burdened by the consequences of war, in which he had lost his loved ones. He is considering himself mandatory to take revenge to former commander of the concentration camp where his family was killed, and who returns from prison after serving the minimum sentence. Coincidentally, planned revenge takes a different turn.
In June of 1942 Germans and their collaborators decide to get rid of partisans and their stronghold in the woods of Mount Kozara in Northern Bosnia. They encircle the mountain and begin the mop up operation. Out gunned and outnumbered the partisans must not only take care of themselves but try to protect thousands of refugees too.
The film has two stories. Story 1: A group f partisans, fighting against the enemy and harsh winter storm, comes to the village where locals are hostile to them. Story 2: One night during the war, a daughter of railway station chief helps the wounded partisan commander to escape; however Germans discover her deeds, and kill her.
After the war, a Yugoslav army captain, Vladimir, is in charge of suppressing armed supporters of the former king's regime, led by major Momir. After Vladimir's best friend is killed, he joins the rebels pretending to be one of the king's supporters. However, one of Momir's supporters, a man who harbors rebels, has an attractive daughter who is engaged to marry Momir. She knows that Vladimir is an officer of the Yugoslav army, because she has seen him wearing a Yugoslav uniform. Vladimir fears that she might betray him.
Yugoslav Partizans, captured by Nazis, are sent to concentration camps in distant Norway. The local population help some Partizans survive or flee to neutral Sweden.
