08/15 - II. Teil (1955)

The same old 08/15 military bureaucracy carries on at the Eastern Front: First Lieutenant Wedelmann, the popular commander of the artillery battery to which Asch, Vierbein, and Kowalski are also assigned, is replaced by Captain Witterer, who has so far served exclusively on the home front. Witterer wants to make himself as comfortable as possible in the war zone, while also finally earning a medal. Vierbein, now promoted to corporal, is still a gentle young man, but as a tank fighter awarded the Iron Cross First Class, he has meanwhile earned the respect of his comrades and superiors. Lieutenant Colonel von Plönnies sends him home on a special assignment: to bring the new radios, requested months earlier, to the front. First Lieutenant Schulz (who is denied front-line service right to the end) is initially pleased to see Vierbein again. But when he learns of Vierbein’s decoration, he becomes jealous and tries to put obstacles in his way. With the help of Lieutenant Colonel von Plönnies, who calls Schulz in the middle of the night and reprimands him, Vierbein is nevertheless able to complete his assignment. However, during his farewell visit to Lore Schulz, to whom he feels deeply connected, he realizes that constant handling of weapons has left him unable to play the piano as he once did. He also fails to find Ingrid, Asch’s sister and Vierbein’s girlfriend, when he makes a brief stop at Café Asch to say goodbye to her. All the more eagerly, Vierbein wants to return to the front. Once there, he becomes the harrowing victim of the ruthless Witterer, who escapes unharmed: During a completely pointless anti-tank operation, Vierbein takes shelter in a foxhole, above which a Soviet tank spins around its own axis several times, burying him alive. Asch and Kowalski find their friend dead, and Asch reads aloud a pacifist love letter to his sister Ingrid that Vierbein had been carrying. In the background, the melody of the song “The Good Comrade” is heard.