Pastor Gottlieb finds it difficult to preach with Nazis in the pews, but since the Anschluss, he has no choice. When a Jewish family seeks his help, he willingly agrees, seeing it as a way to oppose the troops that have invaded Austria.
He hides the family in the church, in a service corridor behind the organ pipes. The younger family members plan their escape to New York, but soon realize their elderly grandmother is too frail for the trip.