The film presents the political events surrounding the Anschluss in March of 1938 through the lives of Carola Hell, a popular young actress at the prestigious Theater in der Josefstadt, and Martin Hofmann, the Jewish journalist she plans to marry. When we encounter the couple in the lovely springtime weather their future is full of promise. They are determined to stay clear of politics. Yet in the climate of the time, nobody of her prominence or his religion can remain apolitical. Although Martin's journalist friend, Drechsler, calls to inform them that the Nazis plan to take over Austria soon, they concentrate on their work and their private happiness and dismiss the warnings.

An author searches for cues about the life of a girl confined in a community home before her suicide. While trying to put together a literary piece he increasingly becomes aware of the insignificance of his own creative work. He has no insight in any world but his own.

An old man is to be evicted from his home. He is the last tenant in an old house. He refuses to leave the flat and barricades himself in and spends his time writing protest letters to the government. Harder measures are soon taken against him.