May 1945. Gabriele can no longer bear to stay in hiding; he emerges from his hiding place, is reunited with his Margherita, and—to be forgiven for desertion—enlists in the German army. Renzo, on the other hand, is hiding in the mountains with Leone’s group, even though his mother urges him to return home because he has gotten a girl, Federica Drigo, pregnant. The group heads down into the valley to free some female partisans but runs into enemy soldiers; Leone, after saving Renzo, is fatally wounded. Meanwhile, during a house search, Gabriele rebels and kills a German soldier, freeing a group of Italians who were hiding there. Shortly afterward, Gabriele, Margherita, Flaviut, and Renzo return home because the war is over.