The film narrates the activities of Yevno Azef, a Russian who had worked as an agent provocateur for the Tsarist Okhrana and infiltrated the Socialist Revolutionary Party. Asef had earned the trust of terrorist revolutionary comrades by assassinating top Russian officials but betrayed many comrades, some of whom were executed for involvement and planning of crimes and some by comrades themselves after Azef manipulated them into believing there were traitors to the anti-government cause, such as famous worker's resistance movement leader Gapon.
After being ultimately proven a traitor, Azef fled to Germany using a fake ID provided by the Okhrana still refusing to believe Azef organized the murder of top government officials. While in Germany, Azef coincidentally met a former comrade and asked for support in organizing a fair tribunal, claiming he was falsely accused of treason. He died in hospital in 1918.
Hull, David Stewart (1969). Film in the Third Reich: A Study of the German Cinema, 1933–1945. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN978-0-520-01489-3.