A Jewish tannery worker, Nahum Beychik, invents a machine that makes hard work easier in leather tanning. A private entrepreneur, former kulak Lopatin, tries to buy the invention and use it for his own selfish interests. Having met with a decisive refusal from Nahum Beychik, the kulak exploits the anti-Semitic sentiments of the backward part of the workers and, with the help of his accomplices, hooligans and truants, tries to kill the inventor.

Don Cossack Stepan Razin boyars vowed revenge for his friends tortured torture. As head of the rebellious peasants, he becomes the leader of the whole army. With all the Russian land flock to him humiliated and oskorblennye.Tsar Alexey concerned the growing power Ataman. Church anathematizes Stepan collected in the march on Moscow. Regular king's troops manage to stop rebel forces near the walls Simbirska.Spodvizhniki perish, and the chieftain captured. Severe torture did not break the will of Razin.

About the labor exploits of gold miners, the old partisan Fedor Potanin and his son, the leader Stepan.

In northward far camp NKVD arrives echelon with the group of prisoners. Among them there are an engineer Sadovskiy and inveterate criminal Kostya, that quickly becomes the ringleader of barrack and forbids to all the appearances at work. The officials of cheka begin a persistent and tactful fight for the change of these people.