TheSecondWorldWarwasthemostdestructiveconflictinhistory,layingwastenotonlytoEurope’speoplebutalsoitsinfrastructure,institutionsanditsmoralfoundations.Onlyatthewar’sendwasthetruescaleofhumansufferingandmiseryrevealed,andsodevastatingwasthescenethatEuropewasdubbed‘TheNewDarkContinent'.Butforciviliansinparticular,liberationoftenmarkednottheendoftheirtroublesbutthebeginningofnewones,withfamineanddiseasewidespreadandanatmospherethickwithethnictensionandrevenge. Thisfilmwillre-examinetheaftermathoftheWartoaskiftoomuchstresshasbeenlaidonanoptimisticviewofvictoryinEuropewithcelebratoryimagesofVEdayandnewsreelcoverageoftheliberationofplaceslikeParis.Whilenarrativesofhopeandreconciliationareimportant,areparallelstoriesshowingthedarkersideofpeaceyettoreceivedueprominence?Liberationwasbitter,bloodyandvengeful,andtherewereprofoundandpervasivefearsthatthepeacecouldbelost.Throughrarearchiveanduniquepersonaltestimony,thisfilmrevealsthe‘poisonedpeace’of1945tothrowlightonapost-warEuropewherecivilisationteeteredonthebrinkofchaos,butthestoryofthetransitionfromwartopeaceformsthehingeonwhichmodernEuropeanhistoryturns.