Wehrmacht Sergeant Heinz Joest spent his 43rd birthday inside the Warsaw Ghetto on September 19th, 1941, taking photographs. These unique photos are the core of this black and white documentary video, complemented by excerpts from the hidden diaries of Warsaw ghetto historians, as well as by Yiddish music of the period. Hope is stronger than desperation as evidence of ongoing underground schools and religious observances bear witness to human fortitude in a nightmare world.