The film is set in 1944, in German-occupied Netherlands. There is an ongoing famine. Jan Alting is a a Dutch patriotic farmer, who uses his farm as a place of refuge for Jews, communists, and Dutch resistance members. He has disinherited his son Anton Alting, who is a German collaborator. One day, Anton unexpectedly visits his father's residence and discovers a group of subversives hiding there. He orders his father to kick them out, threatening to shoot them if he refuses. Jan is torn between his patriotic duty and his desire to avoid direct conflict with his estranged son.