Fleeing the Nazis, a European family seeks refuge in Brazil. The father, a renowned urologist, is not allowed to practice medicine in Brazil. Struggling to feed their two young children, the parents scramble to learn the language and to earn their daily bread. Unscrupulous landlords force them to move from boarding house to boarding house. Then, unexpectedly, an entrepreneur offers the father the opportunity to manage operations at a new tapioca mill the entrepreneur is building in the back country hours from the nearest town. The father, looking for steady income, accepts and moves to the plant site. A few months later, the family follows, moving to what they expect will be their new home. The father develops good relations with the staff at the plant and provides medical help to their families and neighbors. A year later, a new senior employee at the plant, a neo-Nazi, persuades the owner to fire the father. Back in Rio, the American consul, impressed by a series of strong personal references for the father, facilitates the entrance of the family into the United States.
