The series begins with a story from 1717: At the court of Augustus the Strong in Dresden, the French organ virtuoso Louis Marchand was said to have passed away. Convinced of his “unique” abilities, he announced a music competition. Bach was the only competitor to enter.

The life and struggle of the Lower Sorbian poet Mina Witkojc - her uncompromising stand against the war, her expulsion from her homeland and her welcome to the Soviet liberators.

1934, Germany. The ten-year-old Peter lives in a small town with his parents. His father, an underground Communist, is arrested. In the summer vacation the kids from the neighbourhood fight in two teams, which prevail in turns. One team, led by Ewald, imitates the Nazis, while the other, headed by Fritz, follows his Communist father's example.

To justify their invasion of Poland at the start of WWII, Nazi high command hatches a secret plan: six Polish men from an SS training camp are sent on a special mission to the town of Gleiwitz, to fake a Polish raid on Germany. The ‘provoked’ Germans will thus launch a ‘counterattack’ on Poland.

1982: East German actor Erwin Gregorek travels to Hamburg to shoot screen tests for a film about the sinking of the ocean-liner Cap Arcona in 1945 - a catastrophe he himself survived as a concentration camp prisoner.