It is 1939. The Nazi invasion of Poland has started World War II. Three ordinary, decent, young Germans join the elite Nazi force, the SS. Johann Helmuth. a Bavarian farmer's son, does so primarily to please his authoritarian, anti-semitic father, but also out of a vague sense of patriotism and a need to belong to a larger group. Herbert Winkler's father runs a small automobile repair shop in a village in the mountains of the former Austria. The son is a confirmed Nazi, willing to sacrifice his life for the Thousand Year Reich and its glorious F hrer. The third, Werner Kohler, comes from a sophisticated and very wealthy Berlin family. He is neither an ideologue nor particularly patriotic, but bored, looking for excitement.
The three become friends during the rigorous and demanding SS training that transformed ordinary citizens into members of what became arguably the most potent fighting force in all history.
After the German invasion of Russia, they are sent to the eastern front, Johann and Werner in a Waffen-SS division, Herbert in a penal unit.
In Russia they experience the monstrosity of modern warfare and the bestiality of the Nazi terror that is unleashed against the local populations and particularly against the Jews. They witness and participate in actions of indescribable horror. Can their background explain their different reactions to these events?
