Berlin,
1926: Conditions are going back to normal, the Nazi movement is visible but
believed to be a dying phenomenon. Johann Shmidt steals some food from a market
but runs into a local gang run by Bormann who punches him, insisting he is the
leader of the streets; Shmidt slashes him with a knife. Shmidt runs away,
pursued by the hoods and finds refuge in a shop; the shopkeeper sees he is
injured and Shmidt, recognizing that the man is a Jew, tells him he was being
chased by Nazis because his mother was a Jew. The man and his daughter Emmy
give him medical care, food, and a bed and he relaxes but sees Bormann looking
at him through the window and smiling; the punk is impressed and tells Shmidt
to find out where the man keeps his money….
Shmidt
lives with the family but Bormann is always there keeping an eye on him. One
night, Johann tries to open the cash register but has second thoughts; the
shopkeeper sees this and they talk, the man realizing that for now, the
strongest make the rules but that people like him and Johann can make the world
a better place….
One
day, a bunch of Nazis, looking for trouble, are directed by Bormann to the
shopkeeper and his daughter; the man is attacked and he yells to Johann to
protect Emmy. Bormann and his gang break into the shop; Emmy realizes Johann is
one of them but he slashes Bormann’s throat with a knife and Emmy starts
screaming so Johann punches her to shut her up and leaves with the money. A
short distance away, he watches the shopkeeper die in the street and walks on….