Hans is drawn to Lene, the only dark-haired one among a German family of seven sisters. As his friend Ulrich is a member of the Nazi party, Lene is wary about seeing him, but after confirming that Hans is not a Nazi, she agrees to meet, and the pair eventually marry. On Lene’s birthday, she learns that Hans has been conscripted to fight in Poland because he is a low-level bureaucrat who is not in the party, while Ulrich has been spared.
In Poland, Hans struggles with the brutal realities of war and even commits violence, killing civilians as he tries to adjust. When he returns on leave, he and Lene conceive a child, Anna, who is born during an air raid. After their home is bombed, Lene takes Anna to see Hans during a brief two-day leave. Though Lene is glad to see him, Hans grows jealous of Anna and Anna of him. To protect herself and her daughter from the chaos of the war, Lene begins to travel on foot across the country.
After the war, Lene endures another horror: she is assaulted by two American soldiers in front of Anna. She eventually heads home, reuniting with a sister and, later, Hans. The reunion does not bring lasting peace, as Hans remains paranoid that Lene was unfaithful while he was away. He berates and mistreats Anna over her schooling, and he sometimes strikes her, tempering his discipline with a harsh, critical attitude.
Following the war, Hans reconnects with Ulrich, who briefly encourages Anna to tease Hans. The teasing shatters Hans’s fragile mood, a sign of the underlying trauma of war, and he responds by beating Anna into tears. Back in the household, Lene’s spirit sinks as she develops facial paralysis. Hans returns, recently promoted, and learns of his wife’s condition. A doctor informs them that all of Lene’s teeth must be removed to stop the paralysis from spreading. Despite her protests, Hans orders the extraction, arguing that life takes precedence, which deepens Lene’s isolation—she retreats to her bed, withdraws from Anna, and begins wearing a veil when she goes out.
As time passes, Ulrich and Hans maintain a wary, uneasy truce. One night, after drinking, Hans learns that Ulrich has been promoted above him. Ulrich explains it is due to his qualifications, but the discovery fuels Hans’s bitterness. He becomes distant, no longer attracted to Lene, and grows tired of her depression. When Lene tells him she does not want to live anymore, Hans does not react and leaves for work. Lene locks herself in the bathroom, intending to gas herself; Anna pleads for her to come out, and eventually, she does.
