the developments that have occured in the meantime.

Wilhelm believes that he is bound by honour to fight gallantly for the Fatherland and is determined to do his duty. As the war progresses however, all hope for a quick victory evaporates and the tide of war changes, and Wilhelm’s idealism evaporates also. Faced with the annihilation of his whole company, he breaks down and deserts the Wehrmacht, but is later captured as a deserter and deployed in a Strafbattalion (Penal Battalion). This fate destroys the last remnants of his idealism and when he finally returns to Berlin it is as an utterly broken man.

Friedhelm (played by Tom Schilling) is a sensitive young man – a dreamer – more interested in literature than warfare and with no ambitions to bea soldier. Initially, his comrades deride him as a coward and beat him up, but the hardships and atrocities of the war eventually transform his character into that of a daring and ruthless killer. By the end of the war he leads a group of very young and very old Volkssturm soldiers in a brave but futile attempt to halt the enemy advance.

At first, Charly (Charlotte, played by Miriam Stein) is distraught by the suffering she encounters and it takes her time to come to terms with the demands placed upon her. The medical staff are overworked and in short supply, and Charly is asked to enlist help from local Ukrainians with medical experience. As a result she finds herself faced with some difficult decisions that cause her