Margot Grosbzbart is concert pianist and a descendant of Viennese Jews who suffered the Holocaust. She has joined a workshop planned by Jewish community leader, Dr. Samuel Rosen, and a Viennese Catholic priest, Father Sebastian. The former has gathered a group of Jews of Viennese descent and the latter has brought Viennese descendants of the Nazi generation. The aim of the group is to bring about some kind of generational reconciliation and understanding.   One of the Viennese vistors, Gretel Mindel, is particularly interested in Margot as the former had once watched the latter perform in Vienna. Margot doesn’t consider herself to carry around constant Holocaust anger, but she nonetheless felt compelled to attend the workshop. The group doesn’t get off to the most genial of starts; one Jewish participant, Ruth Shapiro, begins by mentioning the genocide of six million Jews. A member of the Austrian contingent responds with downcast eyes and murmurs of regret. The rest of the meeting is moderated by Dr. Sam in Socratic-style discussion until lunch. At the next meeting, the participants are asked to draw whatever is on their minds. During the exercise, Gretel engages Margot in conversation. After some clumsy attempts at conversation, Gretel manages to intrigue Margot enough to strike up a pleasant discussion. The conversation eventually turns to if it is appropriate to make wry jokes about the Holocaust. Margot states that she doesn’t consider the Holocaust a sacred event, but feels uneasy after saying it to Gretel. During lunch, Margot is acutely aware of Gretel’s ancestry, especially when the Austrian girl reveals that her grandmother was a Schutzstaffel youth leader. After lunch, they share their drawings. One participant, Shoshannah, draws a wounded soldier. Ruth asks which army the soldier was part of, and Shoshannah replies that she isn’t sure. The question defines a theme for the remainder of the workshop: whether a wounded solider is simply a wounded soldier, or if it mattered which side he fought on. As the conversation turns to the violence the relatives of the Jew participants suffered during the Holocaust, Margot wonders how they expect the Austrian participants to react.   The next day, a woman in a purple turban who had yet to participate in the workshop approaches Margot and says that there was originally no anti-Semitism in Vienna, expecting a reaction from Margot. She tells Ruth and Bob Shapiro about the interaction, and they dismiss the turbaned woman as an anti-Semite. Margot thinks that she is an anti-Semite, but one that might not want to be an anti-Semite any longer. Later that day, they are asked to interview each other. Gretel and Margot interview each other, and Gretel expresses fresh emotion when she hears stories of Margot’s grandmother. Margot is irritated by the emotional outburst.   Margot goes to lunch with Gretel and two other Austrians. Outside of the workshop meeting space, the others forget that Margot is not one of them and they make light complaints about Ruth Shapiro’s apparent arrogance. Margot pushes the point further, eventually saying that she does not grant the Austrians the right to criticize the Jewish participants.   On the last day of the workshop, Father Sebastian announces that he plans to host a workshop next year in Vienna. The announcement is met with reasonable interest, and the group departs. Gretel expresses an abrupt interest to visit Jerusalem and learn Hebrew, and tells Margot she hopes to see her in Vienna.