 While drinking in a bar following the conflict and mourning the loss of one of his friends, he gets accosted by a drunken German soldier who accuses him of cowardice, prompting Gerhard to openly denounce Hitler in a furious outburst.Colonel Henning von Tresckow learns of Gerhard's words, and invites him to participate in the 20 July plot.After it fails, Gerhard's correspondence with von Tresckow is discovered by Gerhard's brother Konrad, a high-ranking member of the SS, who has him arrested for treason and arranges for him to stand trial at the People's Court.