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When in 1942 the persecution of the Jews engulfed Europe and about 100,000 Dutch Jews were deported to Nazi Germany, about 600 of them managed to escape thanks to their 'services to the fatherland'. A list started by the secretary general of the Ministry of the Interior, Karel Frederiks, was to protect them from being transported to German concentration camps and ensured a safe haven in a castle in Barneveld. While these people were eventually taken to Theresiënstadt in September 1943, almost all of them survived the war. In interviews, survivors, including the mother of the scriptwriter Oeke Hoogendijk, tell their harrowing tale. Old photos, archive footage and idyllic shots around the castle reconstruct their lives of fear and love mixed with feelings of guilt.