After losing his memory, a ruthless Nazi commandant becomes a decent man who begins a new life with the Jewish woman he loves; however, he will ultimately face the truth and consequences of his past.
Set in Nazi Germany during the final days of World War II, ruthless SS captain Heidrich Heigl is the commandant of the Buchenwald concentration camp. At the opening of our story, he is marching prisoners from the camp when American soldiers attack. He puts on the clothes of a dead prisoner to evade capture, but he is knocked unconscious, resulting in a serious head injury. When he comes to, he has no recollection of his past, including who he is.
He wanders until he arrives at the home of a Jewish farmer, where the farmer’s beautiful daughter Talia nurses him back to health, unaware of his identity. He recovers from his injury but still suffers memory loss. He adopts the name Daniel, and he falls in love with Talia. He and Talia marry and move to the United States after she becomes pregnant.
Daniel is a loving husband and father, a decent and compassionate man, and an advocate for the Jewish community. However, he suffers recurring nightmares of Heidrich’s brutal treatment of prisoners, and he is recognized by former victims, one of whom turns him in to the authorities. He is arrested and extradited to Germany to stand trial.
Daniel and Talia are devastated upon learning the truth, but they agree that he is not the man he was. His lawyer arrives at the same conclusion and uses this distinction as his defense. During the trial, two of Heidrich’s victims testify about the crimes they witnessed and personally suffered as his prisoners, and the lawyer contrasts Daniel’s current personality on cross-examination. Talia testifies in Daniel’s defense and expresses her love for him. Yet both Daniel and Talia fear for their family’s future, and Daniel is overwhelmed by feelings of guilt, shame, and a sense of moral responsibility. Can he live knowing what he was, what he has done, and what pain his very existence will cause?
Then Daniel’s memory returns, and he appears to revert to being Heidrich again. When he testifies, he reveals his previous nature to the court, and he regards Talia coldly. He is convicted and sentenced to death by hanging. Heidrich is executed in the story’s climax, but not before Talia sees Daniel, the man she loves, revealed to her in a single tear.