Francesco's mother, and orders all Italian books to be burnt. From this point, Novak will usually whistle the song the children were singing at various parts in the movie, making it his leitmotiv. At the same time, Francesco's father is threatened by Bostjan, Novak's henchman, and is forced to leave his clinic because he is Italian. Don Bruno has to give Carlo to Francesco's family, because he thinks his orphanage is too dangerous for him. Francesco and Carlo become officially brothers, even if Francesco at first rejects him. Escape The partisans start rounding up civilians, taking away everybody including children. Eventually, Francesco's family is also captured along with Carlo. On the trucks they are loaded on, children are separated from their parents, a scene that hints at Nazi concentration camps of the same war. It turns out that Novak wants all the children of the village to check, one by one, which one will react to the sight of Marta, whom he has kidnapped and keeps in his camp. Just before Carlo's turn, Anja manages to infiltrate the camp and take away Carlo and Francesco, with Ettore's help. Carlo and Francesco lose contact with their friends and return to an emptied home village. While waiting for help, German artillery starts pounding the village, and a shell makes Carlo deaf. Believing he cannot take care for him anymore, Francesco tries to bring Carlo back to Don Bruno's orphanage. On their way there, they see a convoy of partisans transporting Italian civilians, among them Francesco's parents. The civilians are gunned down by the partisans and thrown in a foiba, into which Francesco climbs down shortly after to find his parents dead, chained in iron wire. There is also a dying dog, which the partisans apparently threw down in order to keep the dead spirits from haunting them. The search continues With the help of Ettore, Francesco and Carlo finally manage to reach Don Bruno's orphanage. Shortly after, Novak and his partisans reach the orphanage. Don Bruno, Anja and Ettore hide all the children, hoping that Novak will believe they have left to Italy. Novak, however, understands the priest's bluff, and orders his men to pour gasoline around the orphanage. Don Bruno, then, is forced to admit there still are children, and calls them out loud—but only the Slavic ones, thinking they do not have anything to fear from Novak. Novak, again not