Mojzesz Lipman

The action takes place during the January Uprising. A Russian commander imposed a tribute on a town inhabited by Jews; the money was appropriated by an adjutant, and eleven hostages faced court martial for allegedly failing to pay tribute and forging the commander's signature. A legend is woven into the plot: the sacred number 36 indicates thirty-six righteous. Nameless, unknown to anyone, they live as paupers or simpletons, carrying the burden of the world's sins on their shoulders. A good deed or a miracle that averts misfortune betrays them; however, the perpetrator of the miracle must die. The film has not survived to this day.

In a Polish shtetl, two young men who have grown up together betrothe their unborn children, ignoring the advice of a mysterious traveler not to pledge the lives of future generations. Soon after, one of them dies, and the wife of the other dies in childbirth. The children grow up in different towns, without ever knowing of the betrothal, but the power of the vow leads them to meet each other when they are marriageable. The young woman, Leah, is promised to another man, but Channon, the son of the father who died, is a practitioner of mysticism, and seeks to win his bride through sorcery.