In 1944 many Germans in Eastern Prussia believed like Lena von Mahlenberg, daughter of a local aristocrat, that Hitler would surrender and spare them from being invaded by the vengeful Russian Red Army. He didn't and they had to flee.

In 1830s England, a young man from a good but troubled family is unjustly convicted of stealing a watch. He's transported to Van Diemen's Land where he suffers under the enmity of Lt. Frere while falling in love with Sylvia, the Warden's daughter. Meanwhile, back in England, an imposter lays claim to the young man's inheritance.

Gulag var det sovjetiske system af koncentrations- og tvangsarbejdslejre. Systemets brutalitet og omfang gjorde det til et af det 20. århundredes vigtigste historiske fænomener.