What is the opening situation in the text?

The Balicki family lives in Warsaw, Poland. Joseph is a headmaster of a primary school, and his wife, Margrit, tends to their three children: Edek (11), Ruth (14), and Bronia (3). In 1940 the Nazis are menacing the Poles, and Joseph is sent to a prison camp in the mountains of South Poland.

In the crowded camp, the men do what they can to stay warm. Few are strong enough to try to escape, but Joseph is determined. He is too ill during his first winter, and spends his time thinking of his family and his school, which the Nazis closed because someone reported that he had turned the picture of Hitler’s face to the wall.