In the spring of 1944, in the Woëvre forest of Lorraine, a group of young maquisards takes in four German deserters. led by Saint-Brice is based in the Woevre forest. Lise, a nineteen-year-old girl, is their liaison officer. One evening, four German soldiers turn up as deserters. After a period of doubt, the maquisards agree to integrate them into their group. Lise falls in love with one of the newcomers, Werner, and becomes his mistress. One day, she leaves on a mission with Lucien, and comes across an enemy patrol. The SS shoot Lucien and free Lise. In the camp, people begin to think that the maquis has been betrayed.

Normandy 1850. A stagecoach drives along a road in the middle of the countryside. Inside, the passengers are all asleep except two men who are talking. Suddenly the coach stops: an axle has just broken. When one of the two men leans out of the window to see what is going on, his gaze lingers on the front a provincial abode, which seems to upset him. He soon starts remembering facts that took place forty years earlier...

Marc Lafarge, 13, is idolized by his brother Thomas, 20, future veterinarian and amateur boxer. Thomas has a soul of justice. Thus, returning home with Marc after a fight, he hits a little thug who has just robbed an old lady.

Albert is a Franciscan monk and a medical orderly at a monastery in France. Although he is German, the kindly monk helps hide French resistance members. Albert tries to maintain the delicate balance between the warring factions by helping out the afflicted and not getting involved in political ideology.

Charles Moreau, general practitioner, and Hélène, his wife, have four girls aged 11 to 20 years. The eldest, Claire, plays the piano when she does not let her mind indulge in solitary reverie. Bernadette has a real passion for horses, while Cecile, the youngest, plays from a young age to realize all her whims. As for Pauline, at the age of 17, she decided that she would become a novelist. So she writes a book telling the story of family life. One day, when she comes out of high school, she meets Pierre, a penniless painter, from whom she immediately falls.

When they realize the times are changing, five crooks decide to switch from bank robberies to personality abductions.

A film that relates the trial in Bordeaux in January 1953 of some of the participants in the Oradour-sur-Glane massacre of June 10, 1944.