sentences:  Thomas's family are then killed in an air-raid as the aerial assaults increase and after a farewell liaison with Melanie his squad is sent off to defend the Third Reich, facing annihilation at the hands of Soviet shock troops in a disastrous defensive battle inside a factory.Thomas escapes as the sole survivor.Shell-shocked, he takes refuge in a bomb crater where he meets Astrid (Lea Mornar), a student-nurse foraging for food and supplies.