1941. Shortly before the German invasion of the Soviet Union, five close friends have a party in Berlin. The brothers Wilhelm and Friedhelm are respectively an officer and enlisted man in the military

The invasion is being pushed back by the Russians, causing high casualties for the Germans. Wilhelm gets wounded and left for dead. When he wakes up, instead of going back to the base, he finds a cabin by a lake and lives on his own for a few weeks

The Soviet army is pushing toward Berlin. Not just the war is doomed but Nazism's existence. Wilhelm's death sentence is lowered to probation