Actually everything was forgotten, the ghosts of the past were banished. But then one stroke of fate followed the other and it was time to meet the demons.
1938. While the Nazi troops march into Vienna, the lawyer Josef Bartok hastily tries to escape to the USA with his wife but is arrested by the Gestapo. Bartok remains steadfast and refuses to cooperate with the Gestapo that requires confidential information from him. Thrown into solitary confinement, Bartok is psychologically tormented for months and begins to weaken. However, when he steals an old book about chess it sets him on course to overcome the mental suffering inflicted upon him, until it becomes a dangerous obsession.
Maria travels to the Mediterranean to help people who are stranded at sea. Marcel founds an escort service to protect women from “intrusive immigrants.” Petra takes in a traumatized refugee. And the asylum shelter director Gerald is put to the test by a resident.