The film begins with a man named Conrad von Starke (Adriano Micantoni) driving down a road, listening to a war crimes trial on the radio. He stops the car and exits at the ruins of an old death camp. There he meets Lise Cohen (Daniela Poggi). It is revealed that Lise is a former prisoner of the camp and that the man, Conrad, is the former Commandant who has arranged to meet her several years after the end of World War II. He thanks her for the testimony that she provided at his war crimes trial, which saved him from certain death and helped him integrate into the new West Germany. After touring the ruins of the camp, Lise and von Starke make love.