Após vários meses de combates ferozes, o Exército Vermelho finalmente derrotou o inimigo da aldeia de Ovsyannikovo, o que custou enormes perdas - apenas um terço do pessoal permanece na empresa. Exaustos, os soldados aguardam reforços, mas vem do quartel-general uma ordem - manter a aldeia a todo o custo, o que equivale a uma sentença de morte. O comandante da companhia enfrenta uma escolha difícil - perder os remanescentes da companhia, seguindo uma ordem de comando sem sentido, ou retirar seu pessoal do fogo de morteiro, mas ao mesmo tempo deixar suas posições e ir ao tribunal por violar a ordem. Em detalhes extremamente realistas, apenas uma batalha feroz é mostrada, na qual, como em uma gota d'água, toda a verdade sobre a guerra se reflete.
1905. A Jewish Shtetl. Shimek and Buzya are two 10 year olds. Of course, she is a princess and he is a prince. They live in the same yard, in neighboring palaces. What Buzya really means to him, Shimek begins to understand only years later when, far away from home, when he receives the news that Buzya is about to be married off.
The plot is based on the story of a village demented youth. He is a local fool, living in a poor hut with a sick mother. His neighbors are the Jewish family of the local blacksmith Mendel, and he is secretly in love with his youngest daughter Sonya. When the war starts, the Germans quickly occupy the village. Panic begins among the Jews, as well as in the Mendel family, and they try to equip a shelter at home, which the young man becomes aware of. Hoping to get the blacksmith's house, he reveals this secret to the Germans, but the German military police take him to their headquarters. The protagonist finds Sonya in his garden and wants to save her life, not imagining what difficulties this decision will turn out to be for everyone.
