Part 2: Our mothers, our fathers – Another war

Sent by her lover Dorn to entertain the troops on the Eastern Front, Greta meets Wilhelm, Friedhelm and Charlotte again in faraway Russia two years after their last meeting. But the war has changed the friends. It is the eve of the largest German tank offensive: near the Russian city of Kursk, “Operation Citadel” is to shift the balance of power in the east back in favor of the Wehrmacht.

Out of arrogance, Greta misses her plane to Germany and experiences the horrors of war at first hand in Charlotte’s military hospital. At the same time, Viktor is on a transport train with other fellow sufferers on their way to a concentration camp in Poland. He manages to escape. Together with the Polish woman Alina, he flees into the woods. A Polish farmer discovers them and wants to betray them to the Germans, but his son warns them and leads them to a group of Polish partisans.

Wilhelm’s unit is routed in the Battle of Kursk and the two brothers are separated. Friedhelm, who believes that his brother has been killed, is the only one to escape the senseless battle. Severely wounded, he is taken to Charlotte’s hospital and is only saved by her efforts. The news of Wilhelm’s death hits Charlotte hard, as Wilhelm had been her secret love since her days in Berlin. But neither Friedhelm nor Charlotte suspect this: Wilhelm was also able to save himself. Confused and wounded, he has moved away from the fighting and finds shelter in an abandoned hut, where the field police finally track him down and arrest him.

Friedhelm, who has been granted home leave to recover, learns with his parents that his brother has been arrested and sentenced to death by firing squad for desertion. His father rejects his once favored son and tries to get closer to Friedhelm. The latter realizes that he can no longer cope with life back home. He has himself transferred back to the front. Meanwhile, Greta tells Dorn about her pregnancy. Fearing that his wife might find out about his affair with Greta, Dorn has her arrested.

Part 3: Our mothers, our fathers – Another country

Wilhelm’s death sentence is changed and he is transferred to a punishment battalion. The Wehrmacht now needs every man. Charlotte and Wilhelm meet again in Russia – a stirring encounter for both of them. Charlotte in particular is overwhelmed by her feelings, as she thought Wilhelm was dead. But the war tears them apart again. The Red Army is advancing on all fronts. While Friedhelm’s new unit in Poland is still taking brutal action against the partisan group to which Viktor also belongs, Charlotte’s field hospital is overrun by the Russians. Charlotte is taken prisoner by the Russians. Greta is visited in prison by her former lover and supporter Dorn. Like so many others, he sees the end of the Nazi era coming and tries to pull his neck out of the noose. He wants Greta to confirm that he helped her friend Viktor escape from Germany: Her life in exchange for her signature. Wilhelm takes advantage of the chaos of the retreat and breaks away from his punishment battalion. He sets off on the difficult and dangerous journey back to Berlin. The war is in its final stages, but thousands of people are still dying every day. Friedhelm is also sent with a contingent against the advancing Red Army in the last days of the war.

Four years earlier, the five friends had wanted to see each other again for Christmas in Berlin. Four Christmases have now passed without a reunion. A country lies in ruins. Millions of people on all sides have died a senseless death. The war has not left the five of them unscathed and those who survived will never be the same again.