Rachel
Durante a Segunda Guerra Mundial, na França ocupada, uma mulher de baixa escolaridade cria seus dois filhos em um apartamento cheio de ratos. Ela é Marie Latour. Em 1941, seu marido retorna da Frente, fraco demais para manter um emprego. Depois de um episódio envolvendo sua vizinha, Marie descobre que pode fazer abortos clandestinos para sustentar sua família.
Elisa
Elisa and Eric are two teenage war orphans. They change their apartment on the outskirts of the city into a photo-studio to make a living, and they are very devoted to it. The two seem to live like heavenly beings without connecting to the outside world. Their only contact with the exterior is through Jacques, a loyal friend, but he also cuts himself out of any social life. The sister and the brother then take to get in touch with the world by Mrs Jean, a friend of their deceased mother with whom Elisa takes courses of singing. They live in harmony until a young man, whom Elisa falls for, eventually leaves with Eric for the USA and left her brokenhearted alone in France.
