A young Jewish girl leads an escape attempt from a concentration camp.

During World War II, Edith, a 14-year-old Jewish girl from Paris, is sent to a concentration camp with her family. Her parents are exterminated, but Edith escapes death when the camp doctor gives her the name and clothes of Nicole, a non-Jewish political prisoner who has died in the hospital. "Nicole" is transferred to a camp in Poland where her suffering becomes intolerable; only the friendship of Thérèse, a French partisan, keeps her from total despair. She is selected to "entertain" German soldiers, and eventually, motivated by a fear of death, she collaborates with the Nazis and becomes a "kapo," or camp guard. Her fellow prisoners grow to detest her as she becomes increasingly absorbed in the role. She falls in love with Sascha, a Russian prisoner who shares the hatred of his comrades for the brutal "kapo." The Germans cut back food rations, and Thérèse is driven to suicide. Deeply shaken, "Nicole" grows to regret her collaboration and shifts to the Russian side. As the Russian army nears the camp, she suggests a plan for a mass escape and reveals her true identity to Sascha. She falters, but at the fateful moment her love for Sascha gives her courage, and she sacrifices herself for the other prisoners.