Amen (2017) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Gerstein was initially assigned to the SS Hygiene Institute to develop disease control methods, including the pesticide Zyklon B. Once he discovered this same compound was being used to murder Jews in extermination camps, he experienced a moral crisis. Despite his complicity in developing the technology, he chose to use his position and access to evidence to attempt alerting the world about the atrocities.

Foreshadowing: The film establishes early that Gerstein was a devout Catholic, which creates the internal conflict that drives his later actions.

• kurt gerstein
• ss officer
• moral conscience
• zyklon b
• genocide

Gerstein traveled to the Vatican multiple times to present evidence of the mass gassings and urged the Pope to take decisive action. However, the Vatican offered only vague, cautious condemnations. When Fontana begged the Pope to physically intervene at the train station to stop the deportations, the Pope refused, claiming it would harm Christians living under Nazi occupation. The Church maintained a stance of abstention rather than direct intervention.

Foreshadowing: The film's opening establishes the Vatican's silence as a central moral failing that Gerstein and Fontana repeatedly confront.

• pope pius xii
• vatican
• rome
• deportation
• catholic church

Fontana was arrested and transported to a death camp along with the Jews he tried to save. He was interrogated by the camp's Doctor, who recognized him as a Catholic priest but still allowed him to stay with the prisoners and work in the crematorium. Eventually, the Doctor ordered Fontana to be gassed, and Gerstein's desperate pleas to save him failed. Fontana chose to remain with the Jewish prisoners rather than accept any special treatment.

Foreshadowing: Fontana's earlier decision to wear the yellow Star of David and board the deportation train foreshadows his ultimate fate.

• riccardo fontana
• priest
• gassed
• concentration camp
• doctor

After compiling extensive documentation of Nazi atrocities, Gerstein successfully delivered his evidence to Allied authorities. Despite their willingness to review the material, he remained under German jurisdiction. Gerstein was eventually arrested, and after a formal reading of the charges against him, he was found dead by hanging in his cell. The film suggests he was killed for his role as a witness rather than being prosecuted for his SS membership.

Foreshadowing: Earlier scenes show Gerstein repeatedly putting himself at risk by attempting to meet with enemy officials and church leaders.

• kurt gerstein
• arrested
• hanged
• allies
• evidence
• death

The Doctor, who ordered Fontana's execution and oversaw the camp's operations, was not held accountable for his crimes. In the film's closing scenes, he met with a Cardinal in Rome and asked for help fleeing the country. The Cardinal agreed to arrange his passage to Argentina, allowing the Doctor to escape prosecution. This ending underscores the film's bleak portrayal of how many perpetrators avoided consequences for their actions.

Foreshadowing: Earlier scenes show the Doctor asking Gerstein if he knows anyone who could help him escape Germany.

• doctor
• escape
• argentina
• cardinal
• war crimes
• justice

When the Nazis began rounding up Italian Jews for deportation to death camps, Fontana protested by sewing a yellow Star of David onto his clothing and presenting himself at the train station. He demanded to be deported with the Jews, choosing solidarity with the victims over his own safety. This powerful act of protest drew attention to the atrocities and demonstrated his refusal to remain complicit through silence.

Foreshadowing: Fontana had previously pleaded with the Pope to intervene and was devastated by the Church's refusal to act.

• yellow star
• protest
• solidarity
• deportation
• riccardo fontana

Zyklon B was a hydrogen cyanide compound originally developed for pest control and water purification at the SS Hygiene Institute, where Gerstein worked. Gerstein was horrified to learn that this same chemical, which he had helped refine, was being deployed in gas chambers to systematically murder Jews and other groups deemed undesirable. This discovery became the catalyst for his moral awakening and subsequent efforts to expose the genocide.

Foreshadowing: The opening scenes establish Gerstein as a scientist focused on hygiene and disease control, setting up the tragic irony of his work being weaponized.

• zyklon b
• gas chambers
• hygiene institute
• chemical
• murder

The Vatican, led by Pope Pius XII, issued only vague condemnations of the atrocities rather than taking decisive action. When Gerstein and Fontana presented evidence of the mass gassings and urged public condemnation, the Church responded with caution. The Pope's refusal to physically intervene at the train station, citing potential harm to Christians, demonstrated a policy of prioritizing the Church's institutional interests over direct action to save Jews.

Foreshadowing: The film consistently shows the Vatican as a powerful but inactive institution throughout Gerstein's efforts.

• vatican silence
• pope
• institutional failure
• catholic church
• rome

Gerstein meticulously compiled extensive documentation of the Nazi genocide, including detailed accounts of the gassings and other atrocities he witnessed. He delivered this evidence to the Allied authorities after the war. While the Allies were willing to review the material, the political and legal processes for accountability proved inadequate. Gerstein's testimony exists as historical record, though it did not lead to widespread prosecution during his lifetime.

Foreshadowing: The film shows Gerstein risking his life to preserve documents throughout the war.

• evidence
• documentation
• allies
• testimony
• historical record

Gerstein was driven by a combination of Catholic faith, personal conscience, and guilt over his initial complicity in developing Zyklon B. Throughout the film, he made increasingly desperate attempts to alert the Vatican, the Allies, and anyone who would listen to the genocide occurring in the death camps. Even as his efforts proved largely futile and his situation grew more dangerous, he persisted in bearing witness and preserving evidence.

Foreshadowing: His religious background is established early, creating the moral foundation for his later actions.

• motivation
• conscience
• guilt
• faith
• witness
• risk