fritz and lucy are swiss children who eat gelato ice-cream every day. their father is a german nazi officer who had a forbidden love affair with an american woman and desperately fled to switzerland (what makes a good love story is the degree of desperation.) they hid well but one unfortunate foolhardy mistake led to their apprehension and inevitable execution. fritz and lucy grew up alone, except for the quiet friendship of their ice-cream desserts. while fritz dreams of owning a hat store (hats remind him of gelato ice cream), lucy is haunted by the ghost of her grandmother, a cranky peg-legged woman who was once hitler's girlfriend (hitler has a thing for stumps.)