The Film starts in Dresden during the pre-war period and tells the story of Ralph, the oldest son of a firm-principled and tidy-minded streetcar conductor. Because of the power of the Nazis, war, defeat and the new beginning after war, the fixed lower middle-class world of the father starts to be questioned. After the conscription of the father, the sons and their mother have to get along on their own. Soon the mother developes a pragmatic will to survive, just like Ralph has, and throws all scruple over board.