When the Germans invade the Netherlands in 1940, Leyden student Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema and his friends have a carefree student life. The boys, then about 23 years old, realize like a bolt from the blue that nothing is the same anymore. Friendship and love are no longer self-evident. The war turns everything upside down, all relationships are on edge. Everyone has to make their own choices...: Are you going to fight for Freedom, People, Fatherland? Do you bury your head in the sand and continue studying? Or do you deliberately choose the enemy?