This documentary feature attempts to retrace the steps of one "Maurice B.," Maurice Bavaud, a young Swiss citizen who, in 1938, planned an attempt on Hitler's life. After trying and failing several times to get close to the Führer with a small pistol in hand, he was arrested by the Gestapo, tried, condemned and then executed in 1941. His death was kept quiet by a wary Swiss government who, perhaps fearful of German retribution, went to great lengths to disassociate itself from his "abominable act." Maurice Bavaud remained a shadowy figure in Swiss history until three Swiss filmmakers, inspired by an article by dramatist Rolf Hochhuth, began examining the records and interviewing those who knew him. Villi Hermann, Niklaus Meienberg and Hans Stürm--all of whom were still infants when Bavaud was guillotined--present an elucidating mixture of historical analysis and dramatic reconstruction to bring the case of Maurice B. to light for a contemporary Swiss public.