This film is based on the life story of Dietrich Bonhoeffers (German: 4 February 1906 - 9 April 1945) and his struggle against the Third Reich. Bonhoeffer was a German Lutheran pastor, theologian and anti-Nazi dissident who was a key founding member of the Confessing Church movement. Apart from his theological writings, Bonhoeffer was known for his staunch resistance to the Nazi dictatorship, including vocal opposition to Hitlers genocidal persecution of the Jews. He was arrested in April 1943 by the Gestapo and imprisoned at Tegel prison for one and a half years. Later, he was transferred to Flossenbürg concentration camp. Bonhoeffer was accused of being associated with the 20 July plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler and was then quickly tried along with other accused plotters, including former members of the Abwehr (the German Military Intelligence Office). He was hanged on 9 April 1945, four weeks before the surrender of the Third Reich.