This is the story of Jacob Kalinsky, born in Koretz, Poland, in 1904 to a mean-tempered tyrant of a father and a sweet and loving mother. At the age of twelve, Jacob's mother, Sarah, dies, and Jacob, along with his nine-year-old brother, is sent to live in the care of a brothel run by a loving madam named Jordanna.

It takes Jacob's father three long years to send for his sons. During that time, Jacob suffers many indignities, but when he was raped by a Polish soldier, it molds his life. The shame of this event remains his secret, never to be shared with anyone. That is, until a day, many years later in America, fate brings the Polish soldier back into Jacob's life.