Amen. (2002) on Netflix
Kurt Gerstein, a Waffen-SS hygiene officer, learns the Zyklon B he devised is killing Jews in extermination camps. His appeal to Pope Pius XII moves only the Jesuit Riccardo Fontana.
- Netflix3.6/5
- IMDb7.2/1015,882 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes67%
Trailer
Plot summary
Kurt Gerstein, a brilliant German scientist, is recruited into the SS during the opening years of the Second World War. Assigned as a sanitation engineer, Gerstein is sent to the Eastern Front to supervise water purification for the German Army. Soon after, however, he is asked to help with a "special project" involving fumigation of "vermin infested" areas behind the front lines. Gerstein develops Zyklon-B, a deadly chemical gas which Gerstein believes will be put to use killing rats, lice, and other disease carrying creatures. However, when Gerstein realizes that his invention will be used to kill not animals but people, he begins an emotional search of his Christian values and ultimately decides to betray the SS by attempting to expose the Holocaust by way of informing the Catholic Church.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Amen. (2002)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The Holy See refused to allow filming in the Vatican, so the film's scenes in the papal palaces were shot in the Palace of the Parliament in Bucharest, Romania.
- Amen. is based on Rolf Hochhuth's 1963 play The Deputy, a Christian Tragedy, which was widely attacked in Catholic and Jewish circles for its portrayal of Pope Pius XII.
