The year is 1942 and 17-year-old Helmuth Hubener is standing before a red-robed Nazi judge, accused of committing high treason against the Third Reich. The judge marvels that a religious youth like Hubener — a practicing member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints — could be responsible for distributing anti-Nazi leaflets in his hometown of Hamburg and other German municipalities.

Hubener’s lawyer presents the teen with a way out, advising him to falsely denounce his friend Karl-Heinz Schnibbe as the real mastermind of the plot. He presents Hubener with a statement he has already drafted to read in court.

But rather than frame his friend, Hubener puts down the statement and gives dramatic testimony, stating that Germany is ruled by a lunatic, fighting an unwinnable war. The judge remonstrates with him, but the teenager gets the better of the argument: “Hitler will stop at nothing. The people deserve the truth.”

Infuriated, the judge orders Hubener physically silenced. A harsh sentencing awaits.

The scene marks a pivotal moment in the new feature film “Truth and Treason,” which debuted in nearly 2,000 theaters across the United States on October 17. The drama in the faith-based film comes from the real-life story of Hubener, described by the production as “the youngest resistance fighter Nazi Germany sentenced to death for taking a stand against Hitler.”

Distributor Angel Studios is no stranger to World War II dramas or films with religious messages, having combined both in 2024’s “Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Spy, Assassin.” Hubener’s story is less well-known than that the anti-Hitler clergyman  Dietrich Bonhoeffer, despite his selfless acts and ultimate sacrifice.

“I was fortunate to discover one of the most powerful stories to come out of WWII, and almost no one has heard of it,” director Matt Whitaker said in a press release. “I can’t wait for the world to experience this incredible story of heroism.”

Ewan Horrocks, the British actor who plays Hubener, called Hubener “a young voice who stood up and did something so brave.”

“It’s about standing up for people and speaking the truth,” Horrocks told The Times of Israel on a virtual media day. “Speaking for people who can’t necessarily voice themselves as well, which is a really beautiful and powerful thing.”

The Bonhoeffer film garnered controversy over its alleged depictions of the famously pacifist pastor as a gun-toting adversary of........

© The Times of Israel