During the Nazi occupation of Calvados in 1944, Dr. Leproux, mayor and physician, assists a downed English aviator. Leproux is consequently arrested by the Germans, but his life is saved by humane Major Frantz, with whom the physician's daughter Catherine falls in love. Encouraged by the doctor, the lovers leave the village, Frantz in civilian dress. Because of his daughter's elopement, Leproux is sentenced to death by the French Resistance. He is also condemned by the Nazis and shot to death by their firing squad. The murder, however, coincides with the Allied invasion of Normandy, and aerial bombardment destroys the physician's executioners.
