Berlin in the early 1930s. Bello is an unemployed young man who loves the underage Frieda. In order to earn a living for both of them, Frieda goes on the streets. An inspector from the political department takes advantage of this to blackmail Bello into providing informer services. But that's not all. A jealousy murder among pimps, whose victim is a high-ranking Nazi, is blamed on the Communists, and Bello is supposed to be the key witness. He refuses. When the Nazis come to power, they reopen the case to turn the murdered man into a martyr. Bello still refuses. He now believes he is safe because Frieda is now of age. But he pays for his refusal with his life.

1929: Marie Lehning, a farm worker from Warmsdorf on the Baltic Sea, falls in love with the fisherman's son Mingo. Both complete an apprenticeship in Lübeck. Marie wants to become a seamstress, Mingo a carpenter. After their first night of love, they swear eternal fidelity. But Marie has to return to the village, her mother is ill and her siblings are unprovided for. She starts working as a maid on a farm. Unexpectedly, she meets the young Kurt Meier from Berlin, whom she knows from before.

Professor Gotthold Kittguß leads a secluded life, which is primarily determined by his books. His housekeeper, the widow Müller, takes care of all the practicalities of life. One day, a strange boy appears at his house to deliver a call for help from his 17-year-old godchild Rosemarie, who is the daughter of a deceased pastor friend and lives with the Schliekers, her so-called foster parents, in the small village of Usadel. The Schliekers manage Rosemarie's inheritance, but are anxious to take possession of the farm. They treat Rosemarie like their maid and allow her to live in undignified conditions. After a moment's hesitation, Professor Kittguß sets off for Usadel to help his godchild. But he doesn't receive a warm welcome there and is even locked up in a cellar. Rosemarie frees him and takes him to a secret hiding place in a nearby fisherman's hut.

A writer researching an international partisan group during World War II meets with a contemporary witness. Together, they visit the sites of the events in Poland, which bring back memories for the woman. Television film based on the novella of the same name by Kurt David.

17-year-old Susanne is a gymnast and has a chance to join the national team. But now, of all times, she is having problems in training. She can't manage the new dismount from the uneven bars. At the same time, she gets into other conflict situations: her performance at school is getting worse. Her ambitious mother, accustomed to her daughter's successes, does not show the necessary understanding. Her father, divorced from Susanne's mother and constantly traveling, is rarely there for her. Her boyfriend Michael, with whom she experiences her first love, soon has to join the army and feels neglected because Susanne has too little time for him. Her coach, however, shows understanding and stands by her side in conflict situations, which she eventually overcomes - and so her success in sport returns.

Soldier Ignaz Wolz returns from WWI with an immeasurable hatred of capitalist war profiteers. He decides to start his own revolution, but tries to stay away from the organized class struggle. He steals from the rich men and divides the wealth among the poor. One day, Wolz is arrested and sentenced to life in prison; seven years later he is released due to mass protests. More than ever, it is hard for him to fit in. He severs ties with his former companions, who reject his ideas, and leaves Germany.

A young woman from a progressive middle-class family moves to Shanghai with her husband Rolf in the mid-1930s. Although she has a child, she is not prepared to retreat into private life. She meets Dr. Richard Sorge and decides to become a scout. After training near Moscow - she is given the cover name Sonja - she is sent to Manchuria on her first assignment with her comrade Ernst. She has an affair with Ernst and has a child with him. A new assignment that takes her to Poland separates her from Ernst. She is awarded the Order of the Red Banner in Moscow for her work. She then goes to Switzerland and radios information about the impending war to the Soviet Union. She meets Rolf and Ernst, who are on an assignment in the Far East. Sonja marries an Englishman to avoid being extradited to Germany.

Story of Sergio Rodriguez, commissar of an International Battalion in the Spanish Civil War