Aleksander Czajczynski

Franek, a petty criminal and gambler, befriends Rysio, who performs inspections of meat plants. Rysio suspects wrongdoings at the slaughterhouse. Franek, despite his age, cannot find a place in life, with nothing achieved and, what's more, still not knowing what to do.

Based on a pre-war murder case of the Malisz couple. They end up committing a petty robbery and a sordid murder. He is an illustrator who is not used by a climbing architect. His folks don't like his wife and keeping both of them around as they float from one petty job to another. They finally try to rob a mailman of a bogus money order they have cooked up and end up killing an old, invalid couple with whom they have roomed.

The trials and tribulations of a peasant's life in the 30's, finally overshadowed by the destructiveness of war.