In 1942, the boxing skills of Friedrich Weimer earn him a place at a National Political Academy (NaPolA), a boarding school that serves as an entry into the Nazi elite.

The school teaches the Nazi Party doctrine, with sections of Hitler's speeches and works being analyzed in classes.

"Survival of the fittest" is advocated as a natural way of life, and Jews and enemies of the state are presented as treacherous and inferior.

The boxing trainer who helped to admit Friedrich teaches him to be ruthless in fights, dismissing compassion for opponents as "bullshit".

Albrecht confides in Friedrich about his passion for writing and the arts, areas that his Gauleiter father deems unfit for men.

One day, the boys are taken to the trenches on school grounds, where the sports instructor demonstrates use of live stick grenades.

Friedrich's class is called outside, where Gauleiter Stein informs them that a group of Soviet prisoners-of-war have stolen weapons and escaped from a nearby village.

In class the next day, Albrecht reads aloud an essay in which he condemns the execution of the prisoners-of-war; he describes it as a criminal act and that his own participation in it is "evil".

Outraged, the school authorities summon his father, who tries to force Albrecht to apologize and retract his previous statements.

Realizing that Albrecht deliberately stopped under the ice with the intention to commit suicide, Friedrich screams for his friend.

The headmaster refuses and states, "Amidst people who have died for Fuhrer, Fatherland and Nation, there is no place for suicides".

The other boy recovers and punches Friedrich, who stands impassively until he is knocked out, leaving the Allenstein school bewildered and humiliated.

The next day, the headmaster expels Friedrich, stripping the boy of his uniform and forcing him to walk naked back to his room.

Gansel's grandfather explained that it was the feeling of endless opportunities that came along with wearing the teachers military uniform and his own failed dream of becoming an architect that had attracted him to the movement.