The Murderers Are Among Us

The film is set in 1945 in bombed-out Berlin. The former military surgeon Dr. Hans Mertens returns to Berlin after the war and finds his house in ruins. He still suffers from the terrible memories of the war and becomes an alcoholic. The photographer Susanne Wallner, a concentration camp survivor, finds him in her old flat and both become fast friends and flatmates. Soon after, Mertens meets his former captain Ferdinand Brückner. On Christmas Eve 1942, he had 36 men, 54 women and 31 children shot in a Polish village. In the meantime, Ferdinand Brückner has become a popular citizen and successful businessman who produces cooking pots from old steel helmets. On Christmas Eve 1945, Mertens tries to kill him, but the murder is prevented in time by Susanne Wallner. She is able to convince him to turn Brückner in so that he can be brought to justice.