'Bonhoeffer' Movie Ending Explained & Full Story: How Did Bonhoeffer's Legacy Shape A Better Future?

The true test of faith is commenced not when negativity takes hold of the mind but when apathy lulls the mind into inaction. During the Second World War, one of the darkest times in human history, a German pastor, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, had shown immense courage by taking a stand against his nation’s despotic Nazi governance, which sought to abuse religion as a tool of tyranny. Bonhoeffer challenged the collective apathy of the societal and religious institutions, took the role of a spy to save lives, and proved himself to be a true humanitarian and a man of faith (supposed to be synonymous) by inspiring people through his actions. It is rather challenging to faithfully present the life of such an extraordinary person on screen, and director Todd Komarnicki has tried his best to do so in Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin. While the blending of fact and fiction in the narrative might irk some viewers, it’s actually scary how topical the movie appears to be, especially given the current geopolitical climate where authoritarian control is being exercised through religion, tradition, and the media.

Spoilers Ahead

Bonhoeffer’s Journey to America

The beginning of the movie brings the formative and academic years of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s life to narrative focus, which allows viewers to trace the roots of his humanitarian worldview. Born to an affluent family, Dietrich’s ideals were largely shaped by his kind and loving parents—Karl, a renowned psychiatrist, and Paula, a teacher. Youngest among his siblings, Dietrich shared a strong bond with his elder brother, Walter, who sacrificed his life during the First World War. The environment of the Bonhoeffer House was comforting and liberating enough for Dietrich to adopt an empathetic mindset, and one of the aspects that the movie doesn’t highlight for reasons I am unaware of is that he chose ecclesiastical studies to shape his academic career after being moved by the plight of his fellow countrymen during the interWar period Still, during his stay in Germany, Dietrich lived a somewhat sheltered life, unaware of the harrowing realities of the outside world. 

During the 1930s, Dietrich moved to the United States to pursue higher studies, where pedantic ecclesiastical studies bored him immensely due to how divorced it was from humanity. He became good friends with Frank Fisher, who introduced Dietrich to jazz music and the ‘Gospel of social justice’ in the Abyssinian Church in Harlem, which strengthened Dietrich’s humanist perspective further. An African American himself, Frank offered Dietrich a glimpse into the existing social inequalities and racial persecution of minorities prevalent in America, which made Dietrich aware of ground realities. Dietrich learned this kind of evil couldn’t be eradicated through force and took relief in knowing that the situation in his homeland hadn’t degenerated to such a horrid state. He had no idea that soon his nation would begin tearing itself up under the leadership of an insecure, xenophobic madman, creating an environment as horrid as if not even worse than the grim situation in the States. Anyway, Dietrich’s stay in the States allowed his humanity to lay the foundation of his faith in the truest sense, and he could recognize that in order to truly serve God, people should learn to serve humanity beyond religion, caste, creed, and color. 

Staunch Opposition to Nazism and Battle with Apathy

Upon returning to his motherland, Dietrich was grief-stricken to learn how Hitler’s Nazi party had crippled the nation through despicable means of subjugation of the Jews, destroying the moral backbone of the country by making the German church his personal propaganda machine by remodelling it as Reichskirche—Church of the Third Reich. Hitler and his lapdog Bishop Müller revamped the German church as the Nazi German Evangelical Church, an order that tried to project the Fuhrer as the Godsent chosen one. To Dietrich’s horror, men of faith and men of reason allied themselves with the tomfoolery practiced by the sycophant of a leader, and when he himself dared to vehemently oppose the heretical practices, Bishop Niemoller, who was aware of the oppressive control of the Nazis, warned him of consequences. Dietrich was making enemies in his country by speaking the truth of his faith, and the higher authorities of the church, who wanted to form a resistance against the autocratic government, sent him to England to thwart Hitler’s claim of divine sovereignty by gathering strength from Christian order outside Germany. Dietrich became a figurehead for the Confessing Protestant Church of Germany, which was the face of resistance against the Nazi Evangelical Church.

This was essentially the beginning of Dietrich’s career as a spy, as, covertly moving outside the country, he tried to appeal to the humanity of men of faith in England by sharing the horrid plight of Jews, and the utter decadence of the German church. Much to his surprise, the majority of the religious order considered it a ‘German problem’ and not a humanitarian crisis that called for their interference. They believed, as the harbingers of peace, the men of faith needed to maintain their silence as true pacifists and became totally oblivious to the fact that their silence allowed evil to fester, making them accomplices of the sins carried out by Nazis—as was aptly pointed out by Dietrich. He believed the church shouldn’t be the last institution to expose the true face of Hitler’s propaganda; it should be the first if the religious order truly wanted to exemplify the approach it preaches.

Thankfully, Bishop Bell proved himself to be an exception and showed full support for Dietrich’s ideals, and soon the world learned about the Confessing Church’s direct, daring rejection of Hitler’s propaganda through a theological declaration, which also highlighted the harrowing oppression Jews were subjected to under Nazi reign. Needless to say, this resulted in Bonhoeffer becoming a prime target of the Nazis, and upon his return to Berlin, Bonhoeffer was taken under the protection of the Resistance as he was transferred to an underground seminary in Finkenwalde to train youth pastors who were motivated by his actions. Niemoller turned his back on the German church and allied himself with Bonhoeffer as well, and this time without fearing the consequences, he courageously voiced his opinion against the diabolical practices of the state. Niemoller’s courage to speak the truth resulted in his arrest, and he was sent to a concentration camp where he had suffered for eight long years before getting released post Second World War. 

Accomplice to Hitler’s Assassination Plot

Bonhoeffer’s efforts to oppose Nazi propaganda were largely thwarted after Niemoller got arrested, the Finkenwalde seminary was seized, and all the young pastors were forcibly conscripted by the state. At this critical juncture, Bonhoeffer’s brother-in-law, Hans Von Dohnanyi, brought him the proposition to join hands with the German Resistance that opposed Hitler’s regime and wanted him to take part in an assassination conspiracy targeting the Führer. Now the question might arise that, being a pacifist and man of faith, was it not against the ideals of Bonhoeffer to get involved in a violent conspiracy to kill the head of the state? The question is rhetorical really, because given the devilish actions orchestrated by Hitler, which were a blot on the face of humanity itself, it would have been a greater insult to Bonhoeffer’s ideals had he chosen to remain inactive at the direst hour of the crisis. Hans was a member of Abwehr, the nation’s military intelligence, and he was able to enlist Bonhoeffer as an agent of Abwehr as well. In secret, the duo helped captive Jews to escape through the Swiss border.

In the following years, Bonhoeffer was sent out of the country to keep him from being exposed as a double agent, although it was his wish to get actively involved in the efforts to overthrow the Nazi government. He returned to the States and also to England to garner support from the religious order, to unify them to oppose Hitler’s regime, but was left disheartened to learn even his strongest supporters were unable to get the order directly involved. By this time, the attempt to assassinate Hitler through suicide bombing fell through as well, and Hans instructed Bonhoeffer to not return to the country for his own safety. On the contrary, Bonhoeffer was no longer willing to remain in hiding when his country needed him the most, and ignoring the warnings, he returned to Germany, only to eventually get captured by the Gestapo at his home. During his time in prison, Bonhoeffer reflected upon his life and choices, and being aware of what awaited him, he found grace and strength in the knowledge that he never betrayed his faith and humanity. During his final stay at Tegel prison, a prison officer named Knoblauch made arrangements for Bonhoeffer’s escape, but he refused to leave his fellow prisoners to suffer. Mere months before the fall of Nazi Germany, Bonhoeffer was hanged to death, but unlike the scoundrels who crippled their nation, he could face the gallows with a peaceful smile on his face. Whether or not the religious order recognized his sacrifice is immaterial; he died a martyr at the end.

How Did Bonhoeffer’s Legacy Shape a Better Future?

Weeks later, Bonhoeffer’s fellow prisoners were rescued by Allied forces, and later on, the Lutheran church issued a confession that they’d failed the worst sufferers of Hitler’s regime through their inaction and silence. Through his humanitarian efforts, Bonhoeffer became the strongest proponent of the concept of ‘Religionless Christianity,’ which has motivated millions of people worldwide to share the ideals of peace and equality. More than acting as a vessel of divine presence, Bonhoeffer’s actions allowed religion to find its original purpose of serving life itself, something people need to be reminded of in troubling times such as the present, when people are more divided than ever and apathy is taking hold over all the minds. 

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