In Vienna, in 1930, a young woman falls in love with a gambler and leaves her fiancé, a common butcher. They become a couple and have a baby, but he gets bored and leaves them. Without means to support herself, her downfall begins.

A journalist travelling by train to Vienna meets an American millionairess travelling incognito. They become friends and decide it'd be fun to swap places for awhile.

For a moment the otherwise proper station master Thomas Hudetz is distracted by Anna's flirtatious behavior. This results in a catastrophic train accident with countless deaths. Thomas and Anna lie to escape blame, and this lie about their shared guilt forges their bond , changes and ends yet more lives.

The story of a few couples who have arrived at a point of no return whose history will cross, mingle or fall apart.

A young high school teacher, Pabst, has to deal with increasing racism and intolerance among his pupils. They exclude him from their world. During a military training in a summer camp, one of his pupils is murdered.