In 1938, Joseph Skizzen's father, pretending to be Jewish, leaves Austria for England with his family to avoid any connection with the Nazis, who he foresees will soon take over his homeland. When he disappears under mysterious circumstances, the family is relocated to a small town in Ohio. There Joseph Skizzen grows up, becomes a decent amateur piano player, and creates a fantasy self: a professor whose goal is to establish the Inhumanity Museum.