The Captain — Germany
Army deserter Willi Herold finds a dead officer's uniform in the final weeks of the war — impersonating a captain and executing prisoners at a penal camp with casual authority.
Willi Herold was a 19-year-old Luftwaffe corporal who found a captain's uniform in April 1945. Exploiting the chaos of Germany's collapse, he gathered followers and arrived at the Aschendorfermoor penal camp, ordering the shooting of 172 prisoners. He was captured, tried and executed in November 1946, aged 21. Der Hauptmann was Germany's Oscar submission for Best Foreign Film in 2018.