If you smile three times in the morning when you're sober ...

After spending a carefree time in the Reich Labor Service in Silesia, young Christel comes to Rathenow at the beginning of the 1940s for war relief service without ever seeing her family again. There she married her superior Walter and had a daughter with him. Despite hunger and war, Christel leads a largely tranquil life. But then the Russians invade the idyllic small town and Christel is raped. The war is over, but a martyrdom begins for Christel. She makes a momentous decision …

The story of this extraordinary woman is based on true events.