East German film about the history of Red Orchestra, a real life German pro-Soviet spy ring created after the rise of Hitler that turned into a resistance movement led by a leftist Nazi officer, Harro Schulze-Boysen, and Arvid Harnack.
Kummerow, a village in North East Germany, around 1900: Mean-spirited miller Düker wants to drive cowherd Krischan out of the village. Being popular with the local children, Krischan can rely on the help of schoolboys Martin and Johannes and their friends, who try to prevent the miller's plans by playing pranks on him.
Fiete is nine years old and loves fishing. Each afternoon he spends hours sitting at a creek in his village. On one of these afternoons the peace and quiet is suddenly disturbed when two rowdies catch and kill a neighbor’s drake. The boys bribe Fiete to keep quiet about the incident, and he agrees out of fear. However, Fiete feels uneasy about keeping his secret, especially when the neighbor’s daughter starts desperately searching for the drake.
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.
