The beautiful Franka, the daughter of a Polish official, marries a peasant Pavel and cannot accept her happy fate: before her marriage, she had to be a laundress in rich houses and a prostitute. And now Franka's restless soul longs for repentance.

Prosecutor Azhogin, who sent many criminals to prison, by the will of fate himself ends up behind bars. He is placed in a cell with juvenile lawbreakers. The situation is far from the worst one. So thinks the Azhogin, who eventually becomes a true friend and mentor of his fourteen-year-old inmates...