Mikhail Romm creates an original montage film using newsreel footage from another country.
The director drew on German archives, collections of photographs confiscated from German soldiers, and the archives of postwar anti-fascist organizations to recount the origins and characteristics of the movement that led to the outbreak of World War II.
The film opens with footage shot by Romm's team specifically for the project in the 1960s. These scenes depict everyday life in Prague, Moscow, and Berlin. This peaceful exposition leads into the main narrative.
The film presents documentary evidence of numerous fascist crimes, accompanied by the director's voice-over narration describing this terrifying movement.