In the spring of 1942 German troops advance deep into the Soviet Union, en route to Stalingrad. Hitler, seriously misjudging the tenacity of the Red Army, is convinced that the city can be conquered before winter. Inadequately clothed and without sufficient food, the Nazi troops literally freeze and starve to death, largely abandoned by their leaders. For the soldiers Fritz, Hans, Rollo and GeGe the struggle for life has just begun. Gunfire and bombs are only one part of this hell; most of the soldiers will lose the battle against hunger and cold.The film presents this turning point in World War II as a vast tableau of horror in which the average German soldier was as much a victim of Nazi evil as were the Soviet people.