Hangmen Also Die!

In Nazi-occupied Prague, Dr. František Svoboda, a Czech surgeon and resistance member, assassinates the brutal Reichsprotektor Reinhard Heydrich. The act shocks the city and sets off a manhunt as authorities scramble to locate the killer. After the killing, Svoboda's getaway car is discovered, forcing him to abandon his planned escape route.

With his escape route compromised, Svoboda seeks sanctuary at Mascha's home after a stranger misdirects nearby German soldiers. Mascha's actions appear deliberate, steering pursuers away from his location. This moment marks the beginning of a fragile shelter within a dangerous environment.

Mascha's father, Professor Stephen Novotny, realizes Svoboda is the assassin but chooses to help him nonetheless. He risks everything to hide the hunted doctor, sheltering him within their circle. The family becomes entangled in a dangerous cat-and-mouse game with the Gestapo.

As the search for the killer stalls, the Nazi leadership takes four hundred Czech men hostage, threatening to execute them forty at a time until the killer surrenders. The move heightens civilian peril and fuels the resistance's urgency. Professor Novotny is among the hostages, raising the stakes for everyone involved.

Mascha confronts Svoboda, urging him to surrender in hopes of sparing her father. He refuses, choosing to protect the mission and others at risk. She then travels to the Gestapo to denounce him, initiating a dangerous chain of investigations.

At the Gestapo's sting, Mascha pleads for her father's release, but the interrogations escalate into arrests for Mascha, Novotny, and their family. No evidence ties them to the assassination, yet they remain imprisoned in a climate of fear and repression. The arrest marks a turning point in how the regime treats potential collaborators.

Gestapo Inspector Gruber persists in believing Mascha knows the assassin and begins gathering intelligence on Svoboda. His suspicions are fueled by staged conversations and manipulated appearances. The investigation becomes a central thread driving deception and infiltration.

Emil Czaka, a wealthy local brewer, is secretly a fifth-columnist aligned with the resistance. When resistance members trick him into admitting his collaboration, he escapes while the Gestapo kills or arrests most of the others. His revelation sets the stage for later manipulation and framing.

One resistance leader, Dedic, devises a plan to frame Czaka for the assassination to misdirect the investigation. Planted intelligence and manipulated testimonies feed authorities’ belief that Svoboda and Mascha colluded. The plan intensifies the cover story the Gestapo wants to believe.

Mascha stages a scene at a restaurant to bring Svoboda and Czaka into Gestapo custody. She claims Czaka was the man she saw fleeing after Heydrich's assassination, a story reinforced by false testimony. Gruber's investigation becomes more tangled as the deception deepens.

Gruber deduces that the Svoboda–Mascha relationship has been staged, prompting Svoboda and Jan to kill him in a confrontation. The killing removes a key investigator but escalates the danger for everyone else involved. The balance of power within the Gestapo shifts abruptly.

Czaka is framed for Gruber's murder and is gunned down by Gestapo agents. The act eliminates a potential threat to the regime's control while deepening the distrust within the resistance. This event demonstrates the brutal efficiency of the occupiers.

Despite assurances that the hostages would be freed, the Gestapo liquidates all remaining hostages, including Mascha's father. The ruthless action underlines the regime's intolerance and the devastating costs for civilians. The city bears the psychological and moral scars of the episode.

Weeks later, the Nazi Party decides Czaka could not have been the murderer and concludes that reopening the case would yield no meaningful results. The inquiry ends with a cover of ambiguity, leaving truth and justice unresolved under occupation. The city remains under oppressive rule with no accountability.