Paris, 1938. At a nightclub, Hilmar Dierks recruits the dancer and prostitute Vera von Schalburg as a spy for the German Abwehr. Pushed for money and feeling adventurous, Vera accepts. She and her son Christian move to Hamburg, where her training begins. The beautiful Vera, who has a gift for languages, begins a passionate affair with Dierks. When Hitler invades Poland, and Vera understands the connection to the Abwehr and her own role within it, she tries to back out. But it is too late. She is blackmailed with her son. Vera is sent to England, where she assumes the guise of Countess Vera La Roche and establishes contact with a high-ranking officer of the War Ministry. She supplies the Abwehr with military secrets for their preparation of the German invasion of England. But her cover is blown and she is court-martialed. She can only save herself if she betrays her love.