The war and the accompanying terrible losses open Margarete's eyes to human suffering. Her openly pro-social-democratic anti-war stance increasingly leads to open protest. After her imprisonment, Maggie does not return home, but finds a place to stay with like-minded people, namely the Ritter working-class family in Berlin, who also adhere to socialist ideals. Through the Ritters, Margarete finds a job in a clothing factory, where the brother of Maggie's idolized "Red Richard" also works.