The Cry of St. Sebastian is a historical drama with ballad features. It is a fictional story, but it is framed by real historical events. It takes place on the territory of the Holy Roman Empire at the time of the great plague, то есть around around 1348. The film is based on manifestations of violence against the Jewish population of Central and Western European countries, which took place at the time of the plague. In the cultural imaginations of Europeans, Jews had faced accusations of digestion of wells and other sabotage of the Christian population for decades before. It was in fear of the plague that Jews, especially in Germany and France, were identified as the cause of the deadly plague and often mass-killed in pogroms.