Poland, during World War II. Martha Weiss, a Jewish woman, arrives at the Auschwitz extermination camp with her family. She is assigned the role of interpreter, but her loved ones are much less fortunate.

Jan Leszczyc meets Amelia Holska at the bedside of his sick mother and he falls in love with her. Both he and Amelia do not know that her father Józef Holski is an international hotel thief. Persuaded by Torense, his former accomplice, he steals pearls from Julia's apartment, Jan's friend, and gives them to his daughter. She ends up in jail when the diamonds on her neck are recognized as stolen. Holski and Torense are hiding from the police. The depressed Leszczyc does not want to marry the criminal's daughter, but the criminal past of Leszczyc's father soon comes to light.

The protagonist of the film is Wanda Bart-Gebethner (1917-1980), an actress who quit her profession and took a job at Śródmiejska Spółdzielnia Mieszkaniowa (Central Housing Cooperative). She currently runs the "Za Żelazną Bramą" café and feels more needed in the Cooperative than in the cinema and theater.