Overnight, Ernst has to leave his mother Agathe and Nazi Germany for Paris because he took part in a protest. But there, all traces of him are lost. Agathe sets out on a dangerous search for her son and discovers that Ernst is fighting against the fascists in Spain. Agathe follows him to the front.

Bornholm island in 1880, where quarry worker Johan Jönsson lives a miserable life with his wife and children. He hopes to escape his poverty by winning a lottery ticket. But it doesn't bring him any luck. Instead of spending his little money on a doctor to have his sick child treated, he extends the lottery ticket. The child dies and Johan, plagued by remorse, turns to alcohol. After he has gamble...

Post-war Germany: Like so many other women, Gerda Krause has lost her husband during the war and has to fend for herself and her two children. She finds work as a seamstress but refuses the offering of her department chief Zimmermann to upgrade her qualifications. One day she meets Uschi, an old friend of hers, whom she has helped with schoolwork before the war and subsequently lost track of. The ...

Rudi Prange is released from prison for good behavior. He gets a job in a transport unit but gets involuntarily involved in a smuggling business by a colleague. When two police officers are gun down Rudi becomes the main suspect.

Trude and Willi Lorenz have had an exemplary marriage for 24 years. Their daughter Gitta takes them as a role model for herself and her fiancé Peter. But appearances are deceptive. Willi cheats on his wife with the young secretary Helga. He is a department manager in a heavy engineering company and travels a lot on business. Trude also has a busy working day as a divorce judge. Obviously, family l...

The young lady Lisa Gau probably took her own life at Seilergasse 8 in Rostock, at least that's what it looks like. Captain Schirding, who has been assigned to the case, sees things differently. Together with forensic scientist Kurt Lisowski, he investigates the case and soon discovers that Lisa was poisoned and is shocked when all the evidence points to his...

Two 17-year-olds, Werner Holt and Gilbert Wolzow, are pulled out of school and into Hitler's army. Gilbert becomes a fanatical soldier; but at the front, Werner begins to understand the senselessness of war.