High school students Kurt and Theo secretly go to the cinema in West Berlin. In the cinema, they watch the newsreel and learn of the Hungarian uprising. Back in Stalinstadt, they convince some class members to visit Edgar, the great-uncle of one of the students, Paul. As Edgar lives in East Germany, they can listen to the radiostation RIAS. While listening, the learn of the death of Ferenc Puskás, a Hungarian football player adored by the students. Kurt manages to convince the majority of the class to hold a moment of silence for the victims in Hungary before class starts. This upsets their teacher, and Erik tells him it is an act of protest. After once again meeting at Edgar's, the class takes a vote and decides to lie about what happened, and to say it was a moment of mourning for the fallen football player Puskás. Kessler, a zealous school superintendent, begins to look into the incident. Fritz Lange, the minister for national education in the GDR arrives at the school and classifies the incident as counter-revolutionary and asks the class to point to the instigator. The entire class stays silent, and as punishment they are all prohibited from graduating. Under pressure, Erik confesses the entire story about Edgar and the RIAS radiostation. Edgar is then arrested, with Paul witnessing the arrest. Theo's father tries to reason with the minister, but he is not taken seriously due to his involvement with the East German uprising of 1953. The next day, Kessler interrogates every member of the class. To up the pressure on Erik, she tells Erik that his father, whom he reveres as a socialist hero, was actually a Nazi Collaborator who was then hanged by the Red Army. Erik cannot deal with this, gives up Kurt, and shoots his firearm instructor. After threatening his mother, he is overpowered by three of his classmates. He then confesses to having given up Kurt. That evening, Kessler tries to convince Kurt to put the blame on Erik. Kurt refuses and flees to West Berlin. The next day, Kessler asks every class member to confirm that Kurt was indeed the instigator of the moment of silence. The class refuses. Following their refusal they are all expelled, and within a few days they collectively flee to West Berlin.
