Amen

Kurt Gerstein, a Waffen-SS officer, works on programs to purify water and control vermin at the SS Hygiene Institute. He becomes horrified when he learns the same hydrogen cyanide compound, Zyklon B, is being used to kill Jews and other undesirables in extermination camps. The realization unsettles him about the purpose of his own work.

Acting on his conscience, Gerstein attempts to inform Pope Pius XII about the gassings. He is met with a tepid, ambiguous response from the Vatican, offering only hesitant condemnation. The effort highlights the gap between knowledge and action within the church hierarchy.

Riccardo Fontana, a young Jesuit priest, becomes involved with Gerstein's efforts to raise awareness about Nazi atrocities. They work to bring the truth to light, facing resistance and cautious official circles. Their collaboration marks a moral alliance across faiths.

Gerstein travels to Rome to speak directly with the Pope, hoping for decisive action. He arrives as the German occupation tightens and deportations of Jews begin in earnest. The journey underscores the peril of seeking high-level intervention.

With the Germans in control of Rome, Italian Jews are rounded up and transported to death camps. Fontana and Gerstein scramble to stop the deportations, but political and religious constraints hinder them. The grueling reality of occupation becomes personal for them.

Fontana pleads with the Pope to appear publicly at the train station to halt the deportations. The Pope refuses, arguing that public action could burden Christians living under Nazi rule. The moment reveals the tension between moral duty and political caution.

In protest, Fontana places a Star of David on himself and joins the deportation train. He does this to stand with the victims and to demand attention. His act is a bold personal sacrifice meant to shine a light on the horror unfolding.

At the camp, Fontana is interrogated by the Doctor, a powerful camp official who nonetheless allows Fontana to stay and work near the crematorium. The Doctor's complex mercy reveals the blurred lines of complicity and humanity. Fontana uses this position to witness the grim machinery of murder.

The Doctor ultimately orders Fontana to be gassed, ending his courageous protest. Fontana's death underscores the brutal efficiency of the extermination system and the peril faced by those who resist it. The cycle of inhumanity continues unabated around him.

Gerstein attempts to intervene to save Fontana, but Fontana refuses to desert the Jews. His steadfast moral resolve contrasts with the limits of what rescue can achieve in that moment. The scene emphasizes the cost of standing up to atrocity.

The Doctor escorts Gerstein out of the camp as Fontana and the remaining Jews continue to be murdered nearby. The escape highlights the fragility of any safety in the face of a functioning system of annihilation. The surrounding carnage starkly illustrates the stakes of their conflict.

They drive by German soldiers digging up and burning the bodies of previously murdered Jews in a mass grave near the camp. The grisly spectacle cements the scale of the genocide in Gerstein's mind. The scene serves as a grim reminder of what they are trying to stop.

Gerstein returns home and gathers all his evidence documenting Nazi atrocities and takes them to the Allies. He hopes the documentation will force international action. Despite acknowledging the evidence, the response is slow and limited.

Despite presenting the evidence, Gerstein is arrested and after reading the charges against him is found hanged in his cell. His death marks a tragic ending for a man who tried to sound the alarm. The world would later confront the truth he fought to reveal.

The Doctor is seen speaking to a Cardinal in Rome, asking for help leaving the country. The Cardinal agrees to assist him in possible escape, suggesting a route to Argentina. The final note hints at lingering networks that survive beyond the collapse of the regime.