Germany,
1958. Johann Radmann (Alexander Fehling) has just recently been
appointed Public Prosecutor and, like all beginners, he has to content
himself with boring traffic offenses. When the journalist Thomas Gnielka
(André Szymanski) causes a ruckus in the courthouse, Radmann pricks up
his ears: a friend of Gnielka's identified a teacher as a former
Auschwitz guard, but no one is interested in prosecuting him. Against
the will of his immediate superior, Radmann begins to examine the case -
and lands in a web of repression and denial, but also of idealization.
In those years, "Auschwitz" was a word that some people had never heard
of, and others wanted to forget as quickly as possible.
Only
the Prosecutor General Fritz Bauer (Gert Voss) encourages Radmann's
curiosity; he himself has long wanted to bring the crimes committed in
Auschwitz to the public's attention, but lacks the legal means for a
prosecution. When Johann Radmann and Thomas Gnielka find documents that
lead to the perpetrators, Bauer immediately recognizes how explosive
they are and officially entrusts all further investigations to Radmann.
The young prosecutor devotes himself with utmost commitment to his new
task and is resolved to find out what really happened.
He
questions witnesses, combs through files, secures evidence and allows
himself to be drawn into the case to such an extent that he is blind to
everything else - even to Marlene Wondrak (Friederike Becht), with whom
he has fallen hopelessly in love. Radmann oversteps boundaries, falls
out with friends, colleagues and allies, and is sucked deeper and deeper
into a labyrinth of lies and guilt in his search for the truth. But
what he ultimately brings to light will change the country forever.