Near the end of World War II, a little girl is kidnapped during the chaos of the Russian army's advance on Berlin, Germany. Severely abused by her kidnappers - a depraved, evil butcher and his cold, complicit wife - the strong-willed girl survives by holding on to the shadowy memory of her birth mother's love. With the help of a piano and three different families who open their hearts and homes to her, she gradually finds the strength to stand up...