After the Second World War, Maja and her husband built a new life in an American suburb. She tries to forget her past in Europe and has also kept it a secret from her husband so far. During an excursion with her son, however, a chance encounter with a stranger suddenly brings back the memory of the horrors she has experienced. Maja is convinced that she recognizes her former tormentor in the stranger and decides without further ado to take revenge for what he has done to her and her family. She kidnaps the man and holds him captive in the basement of her house to force him to confess. She does not believe his protestations of innocence.