The story follows the German soldier Gühler, starting with the battle at Monte Cassino in September 1943. He and his fellow soldiers endure American fire, waiting apathetically in hunger, even without weapons. The futile struggle for a regime he rejects wears Gühler down. In captivity in the USA, his situation does not improve much at first. The conflict among the prisoners, between Nazis and anti-fascists, is not suppressed by the Americans. It is only with the end of the war that a time of hope begins for Gühler. As a German teacher and later responsible for the camp library and magazine, he finds his path. When it was published in 1948, this debut caused a stir: no one had written so vividly about the events that had just passed. Over a hundred reviews addressed Richter's first work, including international ones.