Abel Tiffauges, a French mechanic and recluse who feels children are his only friends, is falsely accused of molestation by a young girl and thrown into prison. He is allowed to join the army on the eve of the Second World War, and quickly becomes a POW who is first given a job on Hermann Goering's estate and then is sent to a castle to work for a German officer. Once again, he gets to be with children-- only this time, it is as a recruiter of German boys for an elite training camp.