Shtetls are small Jewish towns from the former Soviet Union where the traditional Jewish life continued long after it disappeared elsewhere. Tight-knit religious communities of Yiddish- speaking craftsmen survived by keeping a low profile and by providing sought-after goods and services to their neighbors.

Following "the shtetlers", who are now scattered around the world, the film shows their vanished hometowns through the eyes of the different nations that called shtetls their home.

The film’s many characters include a Yiddish singer traveling to the ruins of his family house, a Rabbi with a cult following among the non-Jews, an ardent Ukrainian convert to Judaism, a Holocaust survivor with a horrific escape story, and a Ukrainian couple adopting many customs of their Jewish neighbors and friends.