The World War II. 1944. Nazis staged a cache which stores archival documents of its agents, rescued from the east during the retreat, near a small German town Ostburga.

In 1955, Michael Vierkant, a Jew who had emigrated during the Nazi era, returns from abroad to the Federal Republic of Germany to obtain the conviction of Korn, the former informer responsible for the murder of his sister. Korn is back in office; Michael's efforts remain unsuccessful. There is a direct confrontation between the two, and Michael shoots Korn in self-defense. He flees and is hidden by the young, reclusive artist Marie Jäger, but is then caught by the police and charged with premeditated murder. The case is taken out of the hands of the criminal investigation department by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, which constructs an act of political revenge on behalf of the communists. Michael manages to escape from prison. Marie and her friends organize a press conference at which Michael reveals the connections. The trial is postponed.

Film by Kurt Jung-Alsen.

In spring 1957 Budapest, former lovers Sándor and Mónika reunite after 16 years at a street‐corner café. Their conversation flashes back to 1941, when Hungary joined WWII under Horthy and eight fresh teacher‐graduates, including Sándor and Mónika, vowed lifelong solidarity. War and shifting politics fracture their bond and force each to choose a path through turbulent decades. The drama echoes the 1956 uprising: participants seeking reform are branded “counter‐revolutionaries,” denounced by steadfast communists like László, who scorns defectors such as Béla for “dishonouring socialism and the people.”

In 1952, former farmhand Erich Kattner arrives in a Mecklenburg village from West Germany to take on a new farming job, which he had originally planned to do together with his wife. She has died shortly beforehand, and so he finds himself alone with the almost unmanageable work. His predecessor has capitulated, the new house and barn are only half-finished, tree stumps still have to be cleared in the fields and much more besides. He is skeptical of outside help. He asks Thekla, the maid of the richest farmer, whom he met on his first day in the village, to start working for him, but she refuses. When she does start working on Erich's farm after an approach from her "master", he only sees her as a work partner.

The young orphan Helga is raised by her aunt after WW II. At the age of sixteen, she turns her back to go her own way. As a rambler, Helga wanders through the night streets of Berlin and has brief acquaintances.

The construction of five houses for a workers' housing cooperative has been delayed due to a shortage of workers. It is winter and it is foreseeable that the houses will be completed in the fall at the latest. However, this takes too long for the young electrician Gustav. He is frustrated and wants to finally live within his own four walls. So far, he and his wife Christl, a sales clerk, have been subletting from his parents-in-law. One day, he receives a visit from his Aunt Minne, who informs him that he has inherited an apartment building worth 12,000 marks from his deceased Aunt Erna. He rejoices, as a house is even better than an apartment and he no longer needs to be a member of the building cooperative. The house turns out to be a dilapidated old building with no furniture and no water or electricity. Christl refuses to move into the building and begs Gustav to turn down the inheritance.

East Germany's contribution to the 1957 Cannes Film Festival was the wartime melodrama Betrogen bis zum Juengsten Tag. Had the film been released in the U.S., the title would probably have translated to Duped Till the Last. The film condemns the Nazi mindset by concentrating on a particularly odious cover-up. When his son is involved in the accidental killing of a girl, a Gestapo general pulls strings to save the boy from prosecution. The general manages to pin the blame for the killing on a group of Russians, whereupon he gives the men under his command carte blanche to round up and execute as many innocent Russians as they wish. This act of brutality is contrasted with the pangs of guilt suffered by the son and his co-conspirators.

Post-war Germany: Like so many other women, Gerda Krause has lost her husband during the war and has to fend for herself and her two children. She finds work as a seamstress but refuses the offering of her department chief Zimmermann to upgrade her qualifications. One day she meets Uschi, an old friend of hers, whom she has helped with schoolwork before the war and subsequently lost track of. The reunion reminds Gerda of her childhood dream: to become a teacher. Thus, she decides to enroll at university to make her dream come true.