The film tells the story of Wilm Hosenfeld, a Nazi officer best remembered today for having saved “the Pianist” (Władysław Szpilman) in Roman Polanski’s remarkable film.

Recent findings have revealed that over the course of the war he actually saved about sixty people, Jewish and Polish alike. Before joining the Wehrmacht, Hosenfeld was principal of the school in the German Village Thalau, which is currently debating if he should be remembered as a local hero. Many residents would rather not deal with the questions his story raises about their past. There is a minority that want to commemorate Hosenfeld by naming the school after him. The passionate debate forces skeletons out of closets, reflecting the diverse and often conflicting ways that Germany deals with its past.