In October 1936, a high official in the Austrian government receives a letter from a German Jewish woman with whom he had an affair in 1925 asking him to help place an 11-year-old, half Jewish boy in a good Austrian school. Is the child his? Should he help? And above all should he help now, at a time when Nazis are becoming powerful in Austria?
Because her husband, crime novel author Bert, prefers to spend the evenings with milieu and girl studies in the pubs, Conny files for divorce and moves with the two children from Berlin to Munich. There, she mistakes the new teacher of her daughter with the renovating carpenter, which is quite alright with the teacher as this gives him plenty of opportunity to enjoy Conny’s company. Meanwhile, however, Bert as well has started to understand how good it is to have a cosy home. He comes to Munich in order to win Conny back.
A juvenile offender is handed over to authorities at age 13 and placed in an institution in this somber social drama. Martin is a petty thief who enjoys stealing and looks up to his older brother. When he is informed that his brother has died, Martin runs away from the reform school. He passes through various institutions and is labeled as incorrigible because of his refusal to comply with the rules of society. A dedicated child psychologist tries to save Martin when he entertains thoughts of suicide.
Inspired by the real life events of Mathias Kneißl, a marginal man, son of poor farmers from Bavaria, in the late XIX Century. Mathias stole from the riches to give to the poor, becoming a hero for the rural people, and a popular social rebel. He was chased by the police until his unfortunate sentence.
Daniel accidentally witnesses a kidnapping on the street. After his report to the police didn't get the attention he had hoped for, he looks for an explanation himself and gets more and more entangled in doubts about his surroundings and his own actions. Through his commitment, he finds himself increasingly exposed to violence and eventually kills a person. During the interrogation by the public prosecutor, he experiences the purgatory of his awakening.
