During the closing stages of the Second World War, refugees pour into San Marino. One of them is a foreigner who has apparently lost his memory. Liana, a prostitute, is very sympathetic towards him. He also bonds with members of the Polish Army he encounters. However, during a religious procession to mark the fall of the German Gothic Line, he is jolted by the memory of an atrocity he committed while serving with German forces against a similar procession. Filled with remorse, he commits suicide by walking into a minefield.