In 1943 on the eastern front, the Berlin worker Kurt Hartung, now a private, survives a bombing even though his superior Steckbeck almost causes his death by ordering him to disarm an unexploded bomb. Shortly thereafter, he is captured by a Russian patrol while on a scouting mission.

Although he was never a Nazi sympathizer to begin with, Hartung’s imprisonment leads him to realize that something must be done to end the war as soon as possible. He accepts the task of kidnapping a German officer in order to obtain military information from him. In the course of this breakneck yet successful adventure, Hartung and his two Russian companions become close friends.