Suddenly, right on the street, prosecutor Kravtsov recognizes the White Guard soldier Vinter, who was sentenced to death. The sentence was to be carried out by Red Army officer Prokopchuk, but as it turned out, he took pity on the prisoner and released him. Employees of the GPU (State Political Directorate) track down Wynter and the group of "smugglers and saboteurs" he led. In order to catch the state criminal, Prokopchuk asks to join the coast guard. He tracks down Wynter as he returns from abroad on a schooner. In a desperate fight, Prokopchuk dies along with his enemy.

Germany, 1923. Workers, called to the struggle by the communist Niels Unger, seize the arsenal and turn every building into a fortress. The social democrat Buk does not fulfill Unger's order to blow up the bridge over the Elbe, so the Reichswehr troops enter the city. A bloody massacre begins. Nils Unger is arrested. Buk, who is associated with the punitive leader Meins, betrays the rebels during interrogations. A trial is scheduled for the rebels. To avoid political publicity during the trial, Nils Unger is declared insane, but manages to escape from the prison hospital. Once again, his call resounds through the streets of Hamburg: "Save your guns!"