A narrative chronicle of the three months following VE Day traces the experiences of nine individuals who witnessed the Allied struggle to bring the war to a close, covering such topics as the deaths of Hitler and Mussolini and the liberation of Dachau.

pt. 1. Friday, 20 April 1945. Cruel spring -- "Sorrow and darkness" -- Avenging justice -- "A curious pearly color" -- "To fall heroically" -- "Ich War Immer Dagegen" -- pt. 2. 20-30 April 1945. "A sort of Alice in Wonderland air" -- "The most degenerate spectacle" -- Death of a dictator -- Himmler's bid -- "Boulevard of broken dreams" -- Alpine refuge -- "Death fled" -- "The bitterest battle" -- pt. 3. Hitler's death to VE Day. Dealing with Nazis -- The Cap Arcona -- "The dead-end of Hitler's Reich" -- Hitler's loot -- "The dawn has broken through at last" -- pt. 4. VE Day to Potsdam. VE Day -- "Fortune is not always joy" -- "A grotesque comedy" -- "An Iron Curtain" -- "You lost people as you gained your freedom" -- Berlin : the grey city -- Monday, 16 July 1945 -- "Other beasts in other lairs" -- Epilogue : what happened to them?.