The action of the series takes place in the years from 1945 to 1956. The next parts present the fate of three friends - an intellectual, a worker, and a peasant - whose youth fell in the first years of post-war Poland. Despite different origins, different motivations, and their doubts, Kazimierz, Piotr, and Daniel engage in the activities of the Polish Youth Union, contributing to the foundations of the Polish People’s System. However, the friends face the resistance of society, duplicity, and the overzealousness of party comrades, and finally, their own disappointment.