Sara leads Emilia to a youth center on Miła Street where they meet Andrzej, the coordinator of rescue operations. He introduces Emilia to Icchak, a six-year-old orphan whom she must prepare for evacuation by teaching him Catholic prayers. Inspired by her purpose, Emilia spends the day instructing the children in what they need to know to survive on the “Aryan” side.

That night at home, Emilia sketches Icchak from memory. Her uncle Piotr carves a matching wooden doll based on her drawing, while Truda sews clothes for it. The family establishes a routine of creating dolls, which Emilia smuggles into the ghetto to comfort the children. Soon after this system begins, Sara announces that Icchak has been successfully rescued and placed with a safe family.

Roman receives a job washing dishes at the youth center from Andrzej in exchange for food tickets. The extra food helps Maja produce milk for baby Eleonora. As deportations intensify, Samuel naively suggests that the family volunteer for resettlement, believing the German promises about work camps.

Roman begins using rooftop paths to return home after curfew, a practice that earns him scolding from Samuel for worrying his mother. Returning home early one day, Roman finds Emilia with his siblings and, believing that his parents have been taken, aggressively confronts her. Sara and his parents emerge just as the confrontation escalates, revealing that the women as social workers who offer to evacuate the children. Samuel firmly refuses their offer, unwilling to separate the family.

Leaving the apartment after the confrontation, Emilia remains shaken by Roman’s outburst. Sara explains that Samuel refused their offer to evacuate the children, including baby Eleonora, whose condition continues to deteriorate. Witnessing such overwhelming suffering, Emilia begins to question her faith in God and struggles with feelings of helplessness.

Sara confides that she stopped praying after her own son died years ago, sharing her own spiritual crisis. Despite her doubts, Emilia reaffirms her need to continue praying as a source of strength. Sara asks Emilia to say a prayer for her as well, creating a moment of shared vulnerability between them.

Roman’s friendship with Chaim becomes strained after Roman learns that Chaim arranged for the social workers to visit his family. Roman’s factory boss, Sala, is deported during the ongoing roundups, causing Roman to lose his job and further income. The loss of work increases the family’s desperation as food becomes even scarcer.

Roman witnesses the march of children from the Korczak Orphanage to the deportation trains at the Umschlagplatz. From his hiding spot, he sees Emilia weeping at the same sight from Andrzej’s window in the youth center. Shattered by what he has witnessed and feeling remorseful about his earlier hostility, Roman writes an apology note to her. He tells his parents what he saw during the orphanage deportation, finally convincing Samuel to allow Dawidek and Eleonora to be evacuated by the social workers.

On the day of the orphanage deportation, Emilia watches in horror as the children are marched to the trains, noticing that some are clutching the dolls that her family made. She stays home from work for several days until Sara visits her. Sara delivers Roman’s apology note and convinces Emilia to return to their rescue work.

Sara and Emilia go to the apartment, where Maja agrees to let Eleonora be evacuated first since her condition is most critical. Sara sedates the baby and places her in a medical bag to smuggle her out of the ghetto. As they approach a checkpoint and Sara spots Captain Fischer, she gives the bag containing the baby to Emilia and directs her to exit through a different gate alone. Despite her panic, Emilia succeeds in getting through the checkpoint and takes the waking baby to Sara’s apartment, first stopping at her own apartment, where she risks being caught by Truda as she swipes the spare key to Sara’s apartment. Once inside Sara’s apartment, Emilia vomits from fear and then calls Matylda, speaking in code to ask her to come collect the baby. While waiting, she sketches Eleonora as a keepsake.

In the days following Eleonora’s evacuation, Maja tells Roman that his baby sister is safe with a doctor’s family. Andrzej reveals to Roman that the girl who saved Eleonora was 14-year-old Elżbieta (Emilia), the same girl he had confronted earlier. Roman seeks her out to thank her for her courage, and they begin meeting daily as their bond deepens beyond their initial hostile encounter.

As their relationship develops, Emilia senses Roman’s growing rage and questions why he has not joined the resistance movement. She later gives him a drawing of a clenched fist accompanied by a note about fighting for justice, encouraging him to channel his anger into action. Roman reminds Sara of the need to evacuate Dawidek, but Sara reports that there is no immediate opportunity to rescue the boy due to increased German security measures. Roman notices that Chaim seems more solemn than usual. He leads him up to the roof for a private conversation, and Chaim confides that he and his resistance cell are preparing for an armed rebellion against the Germans. Both tacitly realize that this means certain death. Chaim asks Roman to join their rebellion, but Roman declines, citing the need to protect his family and honor Samuel’s wishes. Shaken by this confirmation, he finds Emilia for a final, brief conversation before she leaves the ghetto for the day. They share an embrace, both sensing that their time together may be coming to an end.

Returning from the youth center in heavy rain, Roman finds that his entire family has disappeared. Overwhelmed with shock and grief, he recklessly calls out for his family outside the apartment until Chaim finds him and confirms his worst fear: The family has been rounded up and deported to a concentration camp. Roman only escaped this fate because he happened to be at the youth center when the raid occurred. Chaim convinces Roman to go inside the apartment to avoid the risk of being shot for violating curfew. He then tells him what he has learned about the mass executions being carried out at the camp. Convinced that his family is dead, Roman tells Chaim that he has nothing left to lose and wants to join the resistance.

On September 21, 1942, Sara informs Emilia that Roman’s family was deported in a massive roundup, with Roman surviving only because he was at the youth center when the Germans came. In her shock, Emilia inadvertently reveals inconsistencies in her backstory, forcing her to confess her true identity as Emilia Slaska and her use of false papers. Horrified by the security risk that this poses, Sara takes her to Matylda for an urgent meeting.

Matylda forbids Emilia from returning to the ghetto to protect the safety of their rescue operations. Understanding the necessity but feeling devastated, Emilia gives Sara the sketch of Eleonora to pass on to Roman. She experiences a sense of loss, knowing that her work saving children has come to an end and that she may never see Roman again.

Seven months later, on April 18, 1943, coinciding with Passover, Roman reflects on the time that has passed since his family’s deportation. He has spent these months channeling his rage into preparing for rebellion with the Żydowska Organizacja Bojowa (ŻOB). Roman keeps Emilia’s two drawings—the sketch of Eleonora and the clenched fist—as his motivation for survival and resistance.

On the eve of Passover, word arrives of a final German liquidation action, and the ŻOB mobilizes for their planned uprising. At dawn, as German troops and tanks enter the ghetto expecting little resistance, the Jewish fighters launch a surprise counterattack. From a rooftop position, Roman and Chaim shoot two German soldiers, contributing to the casualties that force the Germans to retreat for the day, marking the beginning of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.