This is the second film in a trilogy by director Axel Corti on the effects of Nazism on Austria and Austrians. In this story, set at the beginning of World War II, a group of refugee Jews have successfully fled to New York City, and despite the fact that they are technically safe from the Nazis, they have any number of daunting obstacles to overcome.
One of the survivors, a teen who was rescued by Ferry, the hero whose story is told in the first film of the series, plans to go to Santa Fe, New Mexico, with the idea of becoming a cowboy. Instead, he discovers a whole community of emigres and artists living in New York, and opts to fight for his adopted country.