Memory

During the final days of World War II, SS officer Heidrich Heigl marches prisoners from a German concentration camp when American soldiers attack. Heidrich puts on the clothes of a dead prisoner to evade capture, but he is knocked unconscious by a Nazi guard who mistakes him for one of the prisoners, resulting in a serious head injury. When Heidrich comes to, he has no recollection of his past, including who he is. Heidrich wanders until he arrives at a Jewish family’s farm, where a woman named Talia Karamov nurses him back to health, unaware of his identity. He recovers from his injury but still suffers memory loss. He and Talia fall in love, marry, and move to the United States. Heidrich becomes a loving and compassionate husband and father, and an asset to, and advocate for, the Jewish community. However, he suffers recurring nightmares of his 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. Heidrich 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 the captain’s current personality on cross-examination. Talia testifies in his defense and expresses her love for him. Yet they both fear for their family’s future, and Heidrich is overwhelmed by feelings of guilt, shame, and a sense of moral responsibility. Then Heidrich’s memory returns, and he seems to revert to his previous nature. It appears that the man she married is gone forever. Or is he?