In the records of the young Cossack Marina Yurlova, the Austrian farmer Karl Kasser and the children Yves Congar and Elfriede Kuhr, who are experiencing the outbreak of war at home, there is little room for jubilant patriotism. The episode describes how everyday life collapsed with the beginning of the war, together with the inflammatory speeches of a teacher and the heroic portrayals of the first days of the war.