The movie begins on a downcast afternoon; a mysterious man arrives on the shores of
Monte Carlo and checks into a lavish suite at Hotel de Paris. He pays for his amenities
and sharp clothing, all in cash. He keeps the rest of his money in a safe deposit
box before spending the evening socializing. At the hotel's indoor casino, he wins big in
a game of poker with some elites, catching the eye of a radiant French woman. As they sleep together,
she discovers a tattoo on his left arm that seemingly shows his incarceration
in one of the Nazi concentration camps. The following morning, he pays her for
spending the night with him despite not being a prostitute. As he walks out of the veranda
for breakfast, he reminisces about his past. It is the year 1936 in Berlin, Germany. The
Russian-born Jewish man Salomon Sorowitsch is a reputable source for undeniable replicas of any
banknote and forged passports. After a rowdy night at the bar, he is called off for a work
opportunity by a woman needing Argentinian access to ship out of Germany. Unfortunately, after
spending a romantic night with her in his hidden studio, he is caught the next day by the police,
led by SS Inspector Friedrich Herzog of the CID. He is taken by the Nazis to a labor camp and then
transferred to Mauthausen Concentration Camp in Austria. Though the kapo is notorious for
strictly keeping the prisoners in check, Salomon remains undeterred,
showing ferocity when approached to keep them at bay. One evening, he takes the guard's writing
pad and sketches a portrait. The drawing is discovered the following morning and is highly
appreciated by the officer-in-charge due to its lifelike details. He is summoned to the office,
where he gets assigned to use his skills to create attractive portraiture commissions for the Nazi
officials and their families. His work earns him better confinement and extra food rations.
Five years later, Salomon's talents become known across the Reich, and he is subsequently
relocated with other select prisoners to the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp in Oranienburg,
Germany. On the train ride to the camp, he meets a young fellow Russian, Karloff. Despite facing
countless punishments in his incarceration, he has always been passionate about art. They are
lined up in a waiting area when SS Herzog appears, recognizing Salomon after capturing him years ago.
The incoming inmates are given second-hand clothes, but one of the men, Adolf Burger,
refuses to wear them, knowing they once belonged to a gassed prisoner. Later, the men are brought
to work in an area devoted to forgery. Herzog announces to everyone that Salomon will lead the
retouching department of Operation Bernhardt, a massive counterfeiting ring organized by Heinrich
Himmler. The prisoners become relieved to find out the perks of their labor include comfortable
bunks, a wash area, and ample sustenance. After settling, the foreman, Atze, assigns
the men to their respective workstations while meeting with an in-house physician,
Dr. Klinger. Salomon is taken to Dr. Viktor Hahn, a representative of the Royal Prussian Bank,
who is less than thrilled to be working with a professional criminal. Nevertheless,
he assigns him to solve their paper problem, hoping he can replicate the texture of a banknote.
At break time, he socializes with Burger, discussing his survival at
Auschwitz through a manageable work detail he later reveals as a luggage
handler of captive Jews sent to gas chambers. Some days later, SS Herzog implies his fondness
of Salomon, hoping he can forget being a prisoner and concentrate on reproducing forged British
Pound banknotes until they move on with the U.S. Dollar. He promises to help him survive and
get him off the hook for the guards' brutality. Later at the bunkroom, Burger confesses feeling
uneasy living comfortably while far away from his wife left in Auschwitz. Salomon
promises they will never let the Nazis get the best of them. The following day,
the prisoners are brought to a holding area where Burger tries to save a fellow inmate from
persecution but fails despite Salomon intervening. Karloff freaks out as they remove their clothes,
fearing they will be killed, only to find the showers have been turned on to let them bathe.
The young boy later apologizes to Salomon for his behavior, presenting him with a black-and-white
landscape drawing of Odesa, Ukraine. The next day, SS Herzog requests an update on the printing,
only to find out one of the assigned men botched the work since his ID needed to be interpreted
to describe him as possessing adequate skills. Through Salomon's intervention,
he is reprieved, though the SS warns him never to deceive him again.
Sometime later, a breakthrough gets discovered during the printing process of the forged money.
Salomon orders the men to throw out all the paper and get them replaced with rags
which are the exact texture of the English banknotes. With the paper problem alleviated,
he immediately busies himself with replicating the text and symbols on the original banknote,
refining the designs to their last detail. A prototype batch is printed and presented
to SS Herzog, who is less than enthusiastic about seeing the finished product as a mediocre forgery
attempt. He takes the notes while implying the men will be sent back to the concentration camps
if their replicas are not inspected at an international bank. Later at the courtyard,
a distressed Burger compels Salomon to retaliate against their captors since
they are numerous and healthy enough to fight back, but he dismisses his thought.
Afterward, Dr. Klinger informs the men that Kolya is unaware he developed tuberculosis after
everything he endured and must immediately isolate himself from their group. A little while later,
Salomon becomes alarmed to see Lozlek attempting suicide upon seeing his children's passports,
among others, inside a supply crate, indicating they have been sent to Auschwitz. The men
and Dr. Klinger successfully subdue and tend to his injuries as he breaks down.
Well into the night, the guards awaken the inmates and gather them in a holding area. SS
Herzog enters the room, announcing their forged British banknotes have successfully passed a
thorough analysis in a large Zurich bank and the Bank of England, deeming them genuine currency.
As the men breathed a sigh of relief, the SS gifts their efforts with a ping-pong
table as an additional recreational activity during breaks. Herzog approaches Salomon,
praising his skills while telling him to arrange a group to recreate the U.S. Dollar.
Later, while the counterfeiter receives adulation from his fellow prisoners, Burger reminds him
that since they are instrumental in financing the Nazi war effort, they
can secretly sabotage the dollar production to undermine the Reich's entire monetary operation.
The following day, he presented Burger to SS Herzog to display his expertise in using
rotogravure, a technique Americans use to engrave their banknotes' images onto an image carrier. The
SS is pleased, expecting his men will print out a few hundred million by the end of the
work period. At night, Burger reveals his scheme to the foreman, declaring his distaste for the
Nazis after he and his wife were imprisoned for printing anti-Nazi propaganda. He tells Salomon
he will continue destroying the negatives of the banknotes to delay production indefinitely.
Sometime after, the men hear news on the radio about the resistance movement in Warsaw, Poland,
and how soldiers have successfully driven out the Nazis from their territory. Later,
one of the SS guards confides his disdain over Herzog's plans and pees on Salomon's
head while he cleans the lavatory. Disgusted, he immediately retreats to the washroom and
cleans himself but destroys one of the basins in anger over the incident. Months go by,
and the production at the camp has slowed down. One day, while the men enjoy some time off playing
ping-pong, they hear someone getting shot by an officer on the other side of the wall. Burger
urges Salomon to keep playing, but he angrily attacks him feeling angered over their plight.
Soon after, SS Herzog requests for Salomon to clarify the progress of the dollar's forgery,
believing the excuse over the gelatins melting quickly during the process is
unacceptable. He gives his group four weeks to complete their tasks or subject five of
the inmates to a fatal shooting. When he leaves, Salomon dismisses his threats,
telling Burger it's an attempt to blackmail them. Sometime after, Zilinski sounds the alarm,
expressing his suspicion that Burger has been intentionally slowing their progress to sabotage
the product. Salomon then threatens to kill him if he attempts to betray their fellow inmate.
Burger later rages in the bunkroom over his wife's continued incarceration in Auschwitz, believing
life is unfair. Later, Salomon helps Dr. Klinger procure many prescription drugs for Kolya's
tuberculosis, which the doctor lists in a note. The following day, SS guards escort Salomon to SS
Herzog's residence, as he is treated as a guest to the official's wife and children. After they
leave the room, the two men discuss politics over drinks. The SS reveals his knowledge of the
sabotage and pleads with the counterfeiter to come through with the banknotes, whatever the price.
Salomon then hands him the doctor's note about the medication, which he happily agrees to provide in
exchange for the prisoner's cooperation. Later at the camp, Burger is beaten up by Zilinski for
his principles over refusing to relinquish the responsibilities of the dollar's negatives, even
though he is putting everyone's lives at risk. The deadline soon arrives, and the men are
summoned by SS Herzog to release the finished products. Before they can reason with him, Salomon
enters the room and presents the SS with entire batches of forged dollar bills, challenging him to
differentiate them from the real deal. Overjoyed, Herzog praises the group, sparing their lives to
perform at the Carnival, much to Burger's disdain. Later, the stage is set for the men to perform in
front of the Nazi officers. While each group showcases their talents, Salomon tries to stop
Kolya from coughing to hide his sickness from the officials. After the rousing show, he meets with
SS Herzog to complete their deal, producing him a Swiss passport and a recommendation letter to
escape the Reich in exchange for the drugs. Unfortunately, his effort goes to waste when
he witnesses Kolya getting shot in the head by the brutish SS guard who discovers the boy's sickness.
The party dies down as everyone becomes sad. The next day, while the men continue production of
the banknotes, the SS guards enter the room and order them to dismantle the printing machines to
ready them for shipment. Later at night, the inmates are preparing to sleep when they hear
the sound of artillery fire, deducing that the Allied Forces have begun assaulting the Nazis.
The following day, SS Herzog announced that all the equipment would be transported to a secret
location in The Alps. He then orders the men to clean the entire camp, leaving no evidence of
forgery now that the Red Army has advanced. That night, SS Herzog quietly retrieves a
hidden stash of counterfeit dollar bills in the empty bunkroom, only to get attacked by Salomon,
who is retaliating for the murder of Kolya. The following morning, he tells Burger he let
the SS run free, believing he is too cowardly to report to his superiors. Soon after,
displaced prisoners from other camp sections appear, holding everyone at gunpoint until
the inmates show their tattoos to prove their incarceration. Later, Salomon discovers Lozlek
dead, carrying him outside, not knowing where to bury him in a sea of dead bodies.
Returning to the present, Salomon gambles away every last penny of the Nazis' counterfeit
money on some of the casino's games. The movie ends as he sits along the beach;
the French woman joins him, feeling concerned about losing all his money at the tables. The
pair dance slowly on the beach, with Salomon telling her they can always make more money.
In total, the Sachsenhausen Workshop produced counterfeits valued at 132 million pounds.