Summer 1944, Schwäbisch Hall. As the Nazi propaganda can't hide the east front breaking down and upkeep the heroism cult, the 16 year-old schoolboys dream by the pool of a regular peacetime life with swing music, freedom and Lore, the foxy Luftwaffe auxiliary play girl. Buddies Onkel, Knuffke, Bubu, Zungenkuss and Hosenmacher fear rightly they won't escape the bloody horror of a virtually lost war, as a violent hook-hand SS veteran's muster team forcibly recruits all town boys for Hitler's depleted fanatical elite corps by abusive force. Despite a bombardment wrecking the administration, the survivors are soon enlisted to dig absurd defenses only to suffer further traumatizing buddy casualties; Zungenkuss and Hosenmacher. Burly Knuffke returns from hiding in the French Vogese range while his diving partner Onkel and even younger Bubu survive fleeing from the front without being caught and shot as deserters. The next summer, under US occupation, all gang survivors including Knuffke, who sort of joined the allies, reunite at the pool, marked by different war traumas. Gunda, the harlot of corrupt US intelligence McKee, also Knuffke's lover, warns Onkel -whose neck Knuffke.saves- his mate must leave before he's eliminated as loose end, making conflicting loyalties culminate, with a hidden army revolver turning up to raise the stakes.
—KGF Vissers