The biographical film portrait tells the exciting life of the Communist Walter Ruge. For political reasons, he was born in Berlin in 1915 and had to leave Germany in 1933. After eight years of exile, he was sentenced to 10 years for no reason. His way led him through various Siberian camps. 25 years later, in 1958, he left the Soviet Union and went back to Germany (GDR). Starting point for the film is the life report Ruges before pupils of the Potsdam Steubengesamtschule. Together with the 91-year-old, the film team around director Stefan Mehlhorn sets out to search for his past on the northern polar circle of Siberia.