In Palestine in 1948, the last year of the British mandate and the eve of Israeli independence, leaders of the new state realize that the surrounding Arab countries will attack them as soon as British troops withdraw. Gustav Schiller, a tank expert formerly with Hitler's Afrika Korps, is helping to plan the Arab attack, but the Israelis do not know what he looks like or where in the Middle East he is to be found. Israeli intelligence learns that Schiller's former wife, Judith, is still alive in Europe. Because she was Jewish, Schiller betrayed her to the Nazis, and she and her son were sent to a concentration camp where they became separated. Judith survived, with revenge against Schiller her only purpose in life. Led by Aaron Stein, the Israelis smuggle Judith into Israel to help them identify and capture Schiller, whom they hope to force to reveal the Arab plan of attack. Through Lawton, a British major, Judith learns that Schiller is in Damascus. She goes there with a group of Israelis, and they capture him. But Judith's personal hatred overcomes her, and she shoots Schiller, thereby endangering the mission. The wounded man is taken into Palestine and nursed at a kibbutz, but, despite all threats, he refuses to talk. When the enemy attack begins, however, Schiller, fearing for his life, reveals the plan of attack to Judith. He tells her also that their son still lives and that if granted freedom he will disclose the child's whereabouts; but before he can divulge this information he is killed in an air raid. Aaron goes to the hysterical Judith and promises that they will find the child.
