In 1993 Germany was facing an internal crisis. Recent economic downfalls and geological phenomena had created an atmosphere of panic. For the most part this upset was directed at the stranger, sparking a rising tide of xenophobia which culminated in the arson which led to the deaths of a Turkish family in Solingen.
After another five years, Sascha Muchteschem, a German-Jewish Turk, has come of age to inherit his deceased parents' estate. He receives a silver casket which, opening opening, he discovers is full of journals. They are from his paternal (Turkish) grandfather. As he processes the tragic loss of his parents and the racial unrest of his country, Sascha reads through this journals.
Eventually Sascha becomes consumed by his fascination for his family history. He starts spinning the stories around in his head, looking for clues relevant to his present circumstances in Germany's treacherous political climate. Sascha has never heard these stories before. As he reads, he learns the details which tie his grandfather's timeline together. Although he knew his grandfather killed himself, he didn't understand the context before. The old man had been honored for his service during WWI and was about to travel to Berlin for the Olympics, yet he carried this tremendous guilt for the treatment of his people which drove him to a point of despair.
