It's 1944 and Flora Knox is enjoying a beautiful spring morning in the Swiss mountains, waiting on a railway station platform for a train. Having been educated in Switzerland, Flora has been unable to return home to the UK since the outbreak of war, much to her delight. She is far happier there than she had been with her elderly aunt. As Flora watches, a cattle train draws closer to the station, pulling a fleet of slatted trucks behind. But the trucks don't contain animals. From within come the sounds of humans, groaning, pleading, on a desperate journey across the Swiss countryside. Horrified, Flora runs to the train as it slowly clatters through the station, and as she does so, a filthy bundle of rags is pushed out into her arms. Through the slats of the train, she hears a desperate plea: 'Take him. His name is Simon.' As the train disappears, Flora is left holding a tiny baby boy. Everything looks just the same as it did moments before - the sun, the sky, the station - but nothing will ever be the same again.