For Ursula Gothe, the wife of the up-and-coming engineer Dr. Richard Gothe, life in the post-war period is finally back on track. That changes when she rediscovers her daughter Martina, who she thought was dead, in a wanted ad. Ursula is stunned with joy, but also very scared: the girl is from a man she met during the war, before her time with Richard. Now Richard is about to be promoted to factory manager and does not want to be discredited because of an illegitimate child.

Eva, a single mother of two children, like many job seekers before her, falls victim to a fraudster who talks her into buying a knitting machine. What initially looks like a huge flop turns out to be a real gap in the market thanks to Eva's cleverness. Shortly afterwards, she falls in love with her neighbor Jan. But dark clouds soon gather...