The Seventh Cross is set in Germany in the time running up to World War II. The narrative follows the lives of seven prisoners who manage to escape from the fictional Westhofen Concentration Camp, which Seghers modeled on real-life concentration camps from history.
The novel introduces readers to protagonist Georg Heisler, a communist who has been in the Westhofen camp for two years. Deeply unhappy and yearning for freedom, Georg bands together with several other prisoners and begins to plot their escape.
They ultimately escape from the camp--but not without repercussions. Because of their escape, the camp's commandant, an evil man named Herr Fahrenberg, orders his men to make seven crosses. On those crosses, Fahrenberg promises that he will capture each prisoner and crucify them.
As the story unfolds, the narrative shifts between the experiences of the escapees and the camp commandant's efforts to recapture them. Despite their best efforts to stay away from the camp and Fahrenberg, some prisoners are ultimately recaptured and killed on the cross. However, some are able to evade their Nazi captors with the help of people across the countryside.
Heisler's journey is focused more prominently than the story of any of the other escapees. While on his journey, he asks for the help of many different people to hide him, including his former lover, Else, and other important people from his life. While on his journey, Georg discovers quite a bit about the feelings of everyday people living under Nazi rule.
The novel concludes by showing Georg as the only escapee who manages to avoid recapture by the evil commandant. In fact, he escapes Germany entirely, thus ensuring his safety and preventing each of the crosses from being filled.
