Wojciech Ziętarski

1945. Soviet offensive is approaching Cracow. Local resistance cooperate despite political differences to save the city from destruction planned by Germans.

In 1456, Francis Villon and his companions attack a merchant in the forest. On the cart they find a girl dead of the plague. They give up the robbery. Villon spends the evening in an inn. He drinks, dances - the fun is interrupted by the arrival of a leper. Only Villon is not afraid to touch him, he treats him as a neighbor. In bed, his lover Gretel complains to the poet that no one wants to marry her....

Two boys set out by train from Kraków to the seaside but lose their travel money and decide to continue their journey “for a smile,” hitchhiking and using every transport they can find.

The last days in the life of Edward Dembowski (1822-1846), the organizer of the Kraków Uprising in 1846. The informal leader of the uprising, determined to fight for the unification of Polish lands and the liberation of the peasants, negotiates with other politicians.

The main character is Anna, an outstanding pediatrician. She survived the harsh years of war in a concentration camp and cannot accept the behavior of her daughter Natalia, who uses her connections and cares only about material goods. Anna is reminded of 1939, when Piotr, who had been missing for forty-five years, arrives in Poland. Together, they visit places that are important to them: Auschwitz, Sachsenhausen, and Ravensbruck.

The story stretches from 1863 to 1945. Its main characters are representatives of the Pasternik family, who live in the fictional village of Wielowice near Pszczyna. The protagonist of the first three episodes is Franciszek Pasternik, the following parts tell about the fate of his many children and even more grandchildren. The viewer follows their history against the backdrop of great changes and historical events that influenced the lives of Silesian Poles. So there is the Kulturkampf, Prussian rugi, the revolution of 1905, World War I and the Silesian Uprisings.