David has lived in concentration camps his entire life. He is still only twelve years old. He doesn't know anything about his family or why he is in a concentration camp. The men who are in charge are referred to as "them" and came to power in 1917. There is a commandant who cares enough about David to make sure that he has access to food and even vitamins and one day, inexplicably, sets up an escape for him. He hides a get-away bag for him outside the fence and turns of the electric current in the face momentarily so that David can escape. He tells David to head for Salonika in the south and take a boat to Italy from there. He should then head north to a safe country the man calls Denmark.
David jumps onto a truck that is going to Salonika and when they arrive finds a boat labeled "Italy". He sneaks aboard but is discovered; fortunately the sailor who finds him takes pity on him and lowers him gently into the ocean wearing a life belt so that he can float ashore. David comes ashore and finds a cave and sets up a makeshift home before exploring the town below the cliff. People start to wonder who he is and he tells them he is with a traveling circus. However, their suspicion makes him uneasy and he decides to head north.
Gradually David's life outside camp changes him. He learns how to interact with people outside a camp setting. He saves a girl who is trapped in a burning barn. The girl is called Maria and her family are so grateful they invite David to stay with them for a while. However, they start to worry that he knows too much about pain and death. They also grow concerned about the nature of his relationship with Maria. Hearing them speaking with suspicion, David leaves a note and runs away. Later in his journey he sees that Maria's parents have put a note on the newspaper offering a home to him and saying that they understand his character completely.
Another important person on David's journey is Sophie, a middle-aged woman from Switzerland. She is an artist and wants to paint David. He visits her in her home and sees a picture hanging there of a woman in Denmark. He feels interested in the picture but doesn't know why. Sophie tells him that the woman's husband, and her son, David, were both killed in a concentration camp, but a guard at the camp fell in love with her and helped her escape. David realizes that this woman is his mother and the guard who helped h to escape had helped her to escape first.
It is now winter; David is a prisoner of a farmer in the mountains exploiting him for work. Despite this David is thankful for the shelter and food this slavery offers him. He develops a close bond with the farmer's dog, King. As the snow thaws David digs a tunnel in the softening ground under the stable and both he and King escape. King is incredibly loyal to David and later sacrifices his life to save David by diverting the attention of the armed guards at the East German border.
As soon as David reaches Copenhagen, he looks up his mother's address in a telephone book and goes to her house. She immediately recognizes him. He is home.
