Sjel (pronounced Shell) Fokker, a Dutch student, foolishly joins the Dutch Legion (later part of the Waffen SS), where Roon Harte, a gay soldier, befriends him and teaches Sjel how to be a man. After Roon's death, Sjel is determined to do something right in his life and risks everything to save Ginny Brown, an American college girl, now an Allied agent, captured by the Gestapo. This five part saga alternates between Sjel and Ginny's stories until their lives are inextricably bound by increasingly dire circumstances. Throughout the drama, Sjel and Ginny witness acts of cruelty against friends, colleagues, and even enemies in the form of raging homophobia, bigotry, and hatred.