April 1945: 19-year-old Gregor Hecker reaches the outskirts of Berlin as part of the Red Army's scouting team. Having fled Germany with his family when he was eight, he is confronted with the dilemma of having to fight men from his birth country. Through dealing with challenging situations (e.g. he is appointed commander of Bernau, talks to many disillusioned Germans, and keeps getting attacked by scattered groups of German soldiers), he grows more confident that not all hope is lost for post-war Germany. Based on the diary entries of director Konrad Wolf, the episodic movie authentically portrays the protagonist's struggle to come to terms with his own past and identity.