Higher Principle

Higher Principle (Czech: Vyšší princip) is a Czech drama film based on the eponymous short story from the book Silent Barricade (Czech: Němá barikáda) written by Jan Drda in 1946. The story, taking place during the Nazi occupation, is about relationship between students and their elderly teacher of Latin nicknamed "Higher Principle" for his frequent quotation of Seneca's moral precepts. After three of their classmates are killed by Nazis during the murderous hysteria following the assassination of general Heydrich (just because they made fun of Heydrich), the teacher risks his own life but gains the respect of all students declaring that: From the standpoint of higher principles the killing of a tyrant is not a crime! The movie was released in 1960 and was temporaly banned in West Germany as the "anti-German film".