The film focuses on the so-called "French group" – a group of Latvian intellectuals arrested by the Soviet authorities in early 1951. Elza Stērste, Kurts Fridrihsons, Ieva Lase, Maija Silmale, Mirdza Ersa, Milda Grīnfelde, Miervaldis Ozoliņš, Irīna and Arnolds Stubauus, Alfrēds and Eleonora Sausnes, and Skaidrīte Sirsone were accused of treason for reading French literature and showing an interest in Western culture, and were sentenced to 10–25 years in Siberian camps.