Emil (Vaclav Chalupa as a teen, Ondrej Vetchy as an adult) has been naughty, and his family is at a loss about what to do with him. He's been dallying with the family maid. They decide to ship him off to spend time with his uncle Ernst Michel Piccoli), who married his family maid. The boy has a good relationship with his uncle, and a touching picture of Czech family life just at the advent of World War II emerges. Since Emil and Ernst are both Jewish, they are eventually carted away by the Nazis.