March, 1945: The insecure and hesitant reserve lieutenant Felix Bleck receives orders to lead a transport of 40 prisoners to the Western Front, where the men are to be burned up in a punishment battalion. On the way there, Bleck realizes the inhuman futility of his assignment and makes a fateful decision.
Leutnant Bleck
Feldwebel Steinlein
Unteroffizier Brix
Helga Burghardt
Susanne Westphal
Leutnant Thomsteg
Oberleutnant Schwerdtfuß
Major Krugstein
Unteroffizier Mahlmann
Dr. Born
Ketten-Charly
Lohmann
Zobel
Jansen
Schramm
Wirbel
Narrator (voice)