Kurt is an only child, born to a farming family in East Prussia. He goes to agricultural college, planning to take over the family farms. He becomes engaged in 1938, the year he’s drafted into the army. Because he can drive, he’s put in charge of the motor pool. After war breaks out in Poland, he travels all over Europe, marries his sweetheart in January 1941, and fights on the Russian front, where burn injuries send him back home. In 1943 he’s sent to fight in Africa. The first part ends when the English capture him.