This film tells the story of the soldier Pfeiffer. During war he fought at the eastern front and was the only soldier of his troop who survived and returned home. Pfeiffer thinks, that his General forced him to fight in this mission as revenge for him shooting the gerneral's dog in self-defence. Twenty years later a commission is supposed to answer the question of guilt. On the one hand the film shows a single destiny, but on the other hand it deals with the political reconditioning in the 1960s in Germany.