The story of Michael Berg, a German lawyer who, as a teenager in the late 1950s, had an affair with an older woman, Hanna, who then disappeared only to resurface years later as one of the defendants in a war crimes trial stemming from her actions as a concentration camp guard late in the war. He alone realizes that Hanna is illiterate and may be concealing that fact at the expense of her freedom.
Hanna Schmitz
Michael Berg
Young Michael Berg
Rose Mather
Professor Rohl
Brigitte
Julia
Marthe
Dieter Spenz
Young Ilana Mather
Hanna's Defense Council
Sophie
Carla Berg
Peter Berg
Judge
Prosecuting Council
Gerhard Bade
Thomas Berg
Holger
Female Judge
Co-Defendant
Co-Defendant
Remand Prison Guard #1
Prison Librarian
Prison Guard
Ms. Brenner
Student
Holger's friend