Four men pay the ultimate price as they courageously defy the most heinous regime the world has ever known.

SYNOPSIS:

Lubeck German in 1942 was untouched by war. Germany was winning and all seemed well. But, for Karl Stellbrink, Johannes Prassek, Hermann Lange and Eduard Mueller, Nazi euthanasia, the Gestapo and Jewish incarceration could not be ignored. From the pulpit, these men of the cloth decried such injustice, putting them at the point of a sword.

Protestant Karl and the priests form a coalition to save Germany’s soul, distributing the writings of Cardinal Clemens Von Galen. Their ardent opposition to the “purification” program puts lives on the line, including their own.

A surreal clandestine meeting between Adolf Hitler and Karl turns from illusion to stark warning. Germany is ascending, he tells him, and Karl must ascend with her.

On March 28, 1942 the Allies bomb Lubeck, destroying most of the city. Karl wades into the rubble to help his shell-shocked brethren, drawing on skills learned in the Great War. He is appalled by what he sees. The next day, Sunday, he rails at Germany’s leadership and the people who follow it. Within days he’s arrested by the Gestapo and thrown in prison. Alone.

They waste no time, beating him repeatedly. Recant or confess. Neither of which will he do. They injure him profoundly in body but not spirit. Alone in his cell he has nothing but time to reflect on the life he’s lost, his wife Hildegarde and their children. Johannes, Hermann and Eduard take up the cause, trying to help their comrade.

Following their own playbook, the Gestapo threaten and beat Hildegarde. She loses a tooth, which is given to Karl as a warning. It’s too much and he goes berserk, futilely lunging through his prison bars at the guard and exposing his vulnerability.

Johannes, Hermann and Eduard are summarily arrested in the middle of Mass and thrown in jail with Karl. Together, they offer each other hope.

Hitler visits Karl for the last time just before their trial, imploring him to pledge allegiance to him, Germany and the Reich for his life. It’s a deal he can’t accept, preferring instead to offer Hitler absolution.

Beaten, bruised, injured and interred, the four are hauled before the People’s Court where a Nazi judge berates them, abuses them and sentences them to death.

On the tenth of November 1943 the Martyrs of Lubeck were guillotined within minutes of each other. Wrongly persecuted, these holy men became a rallying cry for their wounded country as the war turned against it.

Based on actual events.