Kurt Steingraf

A film about the historical uprising of the seamen in Kiel: During the Russian October Revolution of 1917, German and Russian soldiers start to solidarize with each other. By disarming the officers, machinist Henne Lonke and stoker Jens Kasten prevent the attack on a Russian freighter. When German admiralty gives out orders for operation "Nibelungen", which would lead the German fleet into a suicidal attack against England and quell the revolutionary spirit, seamen and soldiers from different political backgrounds unite in protest.

This is part one of a two-part biopic about Karl Liebknecht. In 1914, Germany is arming itself for war. Karl Liebknecht, left-wing revolutionary Social Democrat, workers’ leader and a virulent antimilitarist, is one among 110 SPD members of Parliament who vote against approving war loans. From then on, he is considered un-German and a traitor to the fatherland, and his own party’s leadership turns against him. Despite threats, Liebknecht speaks up against the war and writes the manifesto “The Main Enemy Is at Home.” Even when he is arrested and charged with treason, he does not surrender.

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.

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 life has been neglected as a result, and now Trude herself is facing a problem that is very familiar to her from her job. An alderwoman has drawn her attention to her husband's infidelity, and a visit from Helga, who demands that she give up her husband, forces her to make a decision. Willi Lorenz has cheated on both women. In a discussion, he finally confesses to Trude and their life together. The fact that it doesn't come to the "Lorenz divorce case" is also thanks to the sincere, compassionate driver Schliffke, who tactfully opens the eyes of his boss Lorenz and the young Helga.

In 1929 Berlin, the progressive editor-in-chief Bornstein is on trial for libel. An article in his magazine attempted to uncover the role that Reichsanwalt Jörns had played ten years earlier in the "clarification" of the murders of Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht. The article explained that the then court martial judge knowingly covered up for the murderers and delayed the trial. At the trial, the testimony of witnesses succeeded in proving the truth of the publication and exposing those behind the murders as those who were preparing fascism.

Three chemists unveil “Substance L,” a pesticide capable of eradicating all life without harming material assets. When Dr. Zichy, haunted by his work on Zyklon B, dies in a car crash and the lethal vial vanishes, colleague Dr. Cramm uncovers a child’s poisoning. To suppress the scandal, the corporation and justice system commit him to an asylum, until his assistant Barbara risks everything to expose the truth.

Shortly after the seizure of power by Adolf Hitler at the beginning of 1933, preparations were underway to silence the members of the socialist and communist parties.

The 17-year-old commercial student Doris, a young, blameless girl, lives with her relatives without parents. It is the nerve-wracking circumstances that make her very unhappy - the dream and longing for a fulfilled life seems far away. Then she meets a young man who recognizes her situation, takes advantage of it and puts her up as a prostitute in a bar. However, Doris escapes this milieu and works as a nanny in Austria. When the stepson of the house falls in love with her and her past comes to light, disaster strikes.