 Summer 1944 in Finnish Karelia; after a long lull, the Soviet army launches an overwhelming offensive that throws everything into disarray. Martta has barely time to marry Aarne before she is evacuated with relatives Hilkka who has just given birth to a son Helmi Elisa, the children, and their grandmother. In the confusion of the retreat, the women try to hold together and cross the paths of Aarne and Arttu, the only surviving brother of war-widow Helmi Elisa. Implacably, war takes its toll of suffering and death among civilians and soldiers.