, a weary Soviet Army captain, is being transported to a court-martial after being falsely accused of treason. His transport is destroyed by a stray bomb, leaving him badly wounded.

, a Finnish sniper and pacifist, is chained to a rock by his own SS unit as a "cuckoo" (a suicide sniper). Dressed in a German uniform, he is left to die or be shot by the advancing Soviets.

desperately tries to explain he is a philosopher and a pacifist who hates the war.