1997. Seven and a half years after German reunification. The year Johanna's grandmother dies.
Johanna's soul is in turmoil. Whatever she does seems to be wrong. Suddenly, even confronting her inheritance-grabbing uncle at her grandmother's funeral is considered unacceptable. She gives herself no time to grieve or find peace. Torn apart by conflicting emotions, she throws herself into her work as an overachieving intern, usually hiding behind her camera.
When the original photograph of a former concentration camp guard falls into her hands, Johanna seizes the opportunity to track down the now eighty-year-old Anneliese Deckert. On her way to return the photograph, she has no idea that she is about to encounter Deckert's entire family—and set off a chain of events that stirs up long-buried truths.