In 1930s Poland Christian boy Ivan goes to live with a Jewish family to learn a trade. He becomes friends with Abraham, the son of the family. However, anti-Semitism is rife in their environment, and they flee to escape an upcoming conflict. Journeying together, they demonstrate their inseparability.

A man died. Right near his home – he got hit by a car. On the fortieth day, his family and friends gather to honor his memory. A familiar situation – division of inheritance. Everyone is given the right to show their best and worst qualities. Not everyone gets out of this situation with honor. Suddenly, the process of division is interrupted by the arrival of the very driver under whose wheels the man died.

The main character is Viktor Shtrum, a talented Soviet physicist who refuses to blindly follow his "comrades" by signing false documents and becoming a tool in the hands of an all-powerful state. During the war, Shtrum’s mother, Anna Petrovna, was sent to a concentration camp, but her letters continued to arrive for many years and help him remain more moral than those around him.