Germany, 1935: When Hans Koch, a Jewish boy of nine is afforded the opportunity to escape his heritage, he does not hesitate to seize it even though the cost is incredibly steep. Denying a religion that has brought him nothing but grief is of little consequence to him. Doing so by assuming the role of a girl on the other hand does present him with a difficult choice. Still, for Hans anything is better than persecution. Taken in the wife of an SS officer and renamed Hanna, she throws herself into the role. Hanna's blond hair and blue eyes along with her academic excellence become a source of pride to Ernst Richter. Her idyllic, if precarious existence begins to unravel in 1942 when Richter takes command of a concentration camp. There she is confronted with the terrible truth of what Germany has become. As the end of the war nears and Richter is ordered to destroy evidence of war crimes, Hanna throws caution to the wind in an effort to save a single life and by doing so, her soul.