Are Chicco, Massimo, Bruno, and Daniele real men? They're sure of it, and to counter the derision of their schoolmates, they decide to prove it by enrolling in a grueling survival course. The outcome is obviously disastrous. The boys quickly realize they're not cut out for a wild, adventurous life. Furthermore, rather than a survival school, the four discover they've enrolled in a real concentration camp, run by the fearsome German jailer Bruno Kaiser. They learn, therefore, only one way to survive: escape.