A stepfather forces Liisa, an orphan girl, to leave her small town and go to Helsinki alone to sell brooms. With the help of a friendly vagrant named Maailman-Petteri and a homeless dog named Musti, Liisa prevents a burglary, and a kind police officer named Rinne and his wife help all the homeless people start a new life.

The new steward of Siltala ends up falling in love with the beautiful widow of the house. Their romance is endangered by misunderstandings and the fact that the estate of Siltala is swimming in debt. And the new steward isn't quite what he seems to be.

Schoolboy Klaus is convicted of theft and sent to prison. At his release Klaus feels that his life has changed a lot. Despite all his hardship and difficulties he keeps up his studies under the supervision of the grim Master Kahari.

It is the summer of 1941. An eastern-Finnish machine gun company receives an order to turn in their surplus equipment. The company is transferred to the front lines. The next morning the soldiers wake to the sound of guns – the war has begun.