Max was a promising young artist who lost his arm in the Great War and with it his ability to paint. Upon his return he opens an acclaimed art gallery that caters to modernism. There he meets another war veteran and struggling artist named Adolf Hitler. Max encourages Adolf to develop his talent. But since Adolf is penniless and is without family or friends, the lure of politics soon wins Adolf's interest over art, setting into motion the most cataclysmic period of the 20th century.