After the war a man tries to piece together the story of Father Maximilian Kolbe who volunteered to die in place of a stranger in the Nazi concentration camp of Auschwitz. Based on the real priest, who later became a catholic saint (1894-1941).

Along with Roman Polanski and Krzysztof Kieślowski, the award-winning Krzysztof Zanussi is one of the most important Polish auteurs of his generation. This story, inspired by a real-life priest’s act, is an incisive observation of the place of faith and the Catholic Church during WWII in Poland.