Joseph, a retired New York police officer, played by the late Roy Scheider, travels to Nuremberg to visit his son Ronnie years after turning his back on him for rejecting a promising career in the NYPD and marrying a local artist, Anna. No sooner does Joseph attempt to heal the rift with Ronnie, when he swears that living in the apartment above, under the false name of Shrager, is the now aging SS Commander who murdered his entire family in a Polish forest during WW2. With little hope of seeing him stand trial, Joseph talks Ronnie into exacting justice - and vengeance - and together they set out to kill him. Meanwhile, a mysterious woman, Gaby, has an agenda of her own. With flashbacks to the past, revealing the teenage love of Young Joseph for a heroic Polish girl, Kashka and his narrow escape from the massacre, the story reaches a gripping and unforgettable climax.