In Brooklyn, New York, eleven members of the Fisher family gather for a Friday night dinner. Filmmaker Jack Fisher talks about his parents, Esther and Alan, who survived the Auschwitz concentration camp, lived in a detention camp in Cyprus, then settled in Israel before moving to New York City. Prior to the Holocaust, during which Nazi Germany killed approximately six million Jews, Esther lived with her family in Munkács, Czechoslovakia, also the home of her future husband. Aware of the effects his parents’ ordeal has had on his own life and those of his brothers, Jack interviews other children of survivors to learn how they have been influenced by the Holocaust. His first subject is Shelley Gelfman, a friend from art school, whose mother, Mary, was an inmate at the Bergen-Belsen camp. Shelley finds Mary’s anecdotes about living in the camp to be compelling, and even more so upon learning that her mother was the only surviving female resident of the Jewish ghetto in Lodz, Poland. In Tel Aviv, Israel, actor Yoram Löwenstein complains of “this obsession with the Holocaust,” asserting that it was too recent for proper analysis. In his current production, Yoram portrays a German army officer during World War II, a characterization that requires him to detach from his family’s past. Jack also interviews Dr. Peter Braun, an Australian physician who was raised with an undue sense of guilt and responsibility toward his parents. In Brooklyn, Alan recounts the loss of his home and several family members, saying that, if it were possible, he would have gone to the gas chamber in his mother’s place. When Esther visits the graves of her relatives in Israel, her mind is flooded with images of Auschwitz and she begins to weep. Unlike the other survivors interviewed, Shelley’s uncle, Zenek “Ziggy” Rybowski, admits that he preferred to die in the gas chamber alongside his father, but was prevented by his German captors, who assigned him to a labor detail. He was later reunited with his brother and sister in the camp, both of whom assumed he was dead. Esther relates the experience of being herded into a structure with several other women, believing it to be a gas chamber before realizing it was a shower. While Jack admires his parents for their devotion to their children, eldest brother Joseph argues that Alan and Esther expected him to fill the gap left by their lost loved ones, especially his father, who never accepted Joseph on his own terms. Mary tells Jack a story about a four-year-old boy she remembered from her youth. He suffered from persistent cold and hunger, but on the train to Bergen-Belsen, Mary’s father gave his only piece of bread to the boy, knowing the child would be killed upon reaching the camp. Mary has never been able to look upon her own children without seeing that boy. In an argument over the relevance of the Holocaust to their personal lives, Joseph categorizes the event as a “family trauma” like any other, though Jack believes it was directly responsible for their family’s existence, and has had a profound effect on shaping his personality. Joseph, however, insists that his parents’ misfortune should be relegated to the past, and not used as an excuse for their shortcomings. In Australia, Peter reveals that his medical license was revoked for exploiting it to feed his narcotics addiction. Following a failed suicide attempt, he moved to Israel and became a teacher for the mentally impaired. He has made peace with his parents, but still hopes to have his license restored someday. When Shelley displays her latest art project, a diorama, Mary remembers fellow inmates who made miniature clothing and furniture, inspired by a need to reconnect with their former lives, rather than artistic expression. As the conversation progresses, Shelley accuses her mother of being emotionally distant and overly critical of her children. Mary admits guilt, and explains how the trauma of losing everyone she loved conditioned her to withhold affection from her children, for fear that she might lose them as well. Later, she tells Jack that she owes her children an apology, but is unable to say who owes her an apology. As Joseph and Jack continue their argument, the elder brother asserts that the Holocaust was never part of their lives and advises Jack to stop dwelling on it. Jack ultimately admits that his family is not defined by the Holocaust, but believes it is “the right place to start asking the questions.” When questioned about their relationship, both Alan and Joseph agree on their inability to relate to each other. Regardless, Esther considers Joseph to be “a fine son.”