True stories usually make authentic books and convincing films. This one doesn't make difference as well. Two weeks before the end of the World War II, a young German soldier who is trying to escape the horror of the war, finds a uniform of a Nazi captain. Being a war criminal, Willi Herold makes a very risky decision - he steals someone else's identity. The fake captain arrives at one of the Emslandlager camps. He takes his new role too seriously which leads to terrifying consequences - Herold turns into the monsters he was desperately trying to escape from. History will remember that the killing of deserters, same as himself, and other prisoners is his responsibility.