Historian and filmmaker Bregstein set out to discover what Jewish life was like in Amsterdam before the virtual annihilation of the city's Jewish population during the war. Through interviews with survivors, Bregstein traces the development of socialism and the cultural life of Amsterdam. The film creates a continuous interplay between past and present, following the destruction of the Jewish Quarter and exploring the few remnants of what had been an intense, unique collaboration in all fields between Jews and Gentiles.