Original subtitles

Narrator: THE GERMAN POPULATION ON THE HOME FRONT

HAVE BEGUN TO NOTICE THE FULL IMPACT OF THE WAR BY NOW.

IN ORDER TO BREAK THEIR RESOLVE,

THE BRITISH USE A STRATEGY THEY CALL MORAL BOMBING,

ATTACKING RESIDENTIAL AREAS AND CITY CENTERS.

THE ENSUING CHAOS, HOWEVER, FACILITATES

THE NAZI AUTHORITIES' DEPORTATION PLANS FOR JEWS.

[ALY SPEAKING GERMAN]

Translator: THE AREA BOMBINGS ARE, OF COURSE,

NOT THE ONLY REASON FOR THE PERSECUTION OF JEWS

OR FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF EXTERMINATION CAMPS,

BUT WITH THE BOMBINGS,

THE NOTION OF THE DEPORTATION OF JEWS GAINED POPULARITY

AMONG THE LOCAL AUTHORITIES.

SO THE PRESSURE FROM BELOW GREW.

"GET THEM OFF OUR BACKS AND MAKE SURE THEY NEVER RETURN."

WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE BULK OF THOSE TRANSPORTS,

THEY CAME FROM HAMBURG, FROM THE RHINE-RUHR AREA,

AS WELL AS FROM BREMEN, BREMERHAVEN, AND SO FORTH.

THE JEWS WERE TAKEN AWAY FROM THE BOMBED AREAS,

AND THAT MEANT MORE HOUSING BECAME AVAILABLE,

AND ALSO MORE IMPORTANTLY,

HOUSEHOLD EQUIPMENT AND CLOTHING,

TO THE EFFECT THAT GERMAN FAMILIES

THAT HAD SUFFERED FROM THE BOMBINGS

RECEIVED A KIND OF UNBUREAUCRATIC EMERGENCY RELIEF.

Narrator: THE PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR ORGANIZING THE GENOCIDE

IS THE HEAD OF THE REICH MAIN SECURITY OFFICE

AND DEPUTY REICHPROTECTOR, OR GOVERNOR, IN PRAGUE,

REINHARD HEYDRICH.

ON THE 27th OF MAY, 1942,

CZECH SOLDIERS RETURNING FROM EXILE

MAKE AN ATTEMPT ON HEYDRICH'S LIFE,

WHO DIES IN HOSPITAL A FEW DAYS LATER.

THE RETALIATION OF THE S.S. IS HORRIFIC.

ON THE TENTH OF JUNE, LIDICE,

A VILLAGE NEAR PRAGUE IS BURNED AND LEVELED

ON SUSPICION THAT THE ASSASSINS HAVE BEEN HIDING HERE.

ALL 172 MEN FROM THE VILLAGE ARE EXECUTED,

WOMEN AND CHILDREN DEPORTED TO CONCENTRATION CAMPS.

THE PROPAGANDA PLAYS DOWN

THE NEGATIVE ASPECTS OF THE WAR.

HERE, WOUNDED SOLDIERS ARE ENTERTAINED IN MUNICH.

ONLY THE SUPREME COMMANDERS

KNOW THE EXTENT OF DECIMATION

THE GERMAN WAR MACHINERY HAS SUFFERED.

OVER ONE MILLION SOLDIERS FROM THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN

ARE DEAD, MISSING, OR CAPTURED.

[ALY SPEAKING GERMAN]

Translator: MOST PEOPLE WERE EXTREMELY REALISTIC.

1942 SAW A RAPID DECREASE IN THE NUMBERS OF LIFE INSURANCES

AND MORTGAGES TAKEN OUT.

THE REGIME PROMOTED THE SO-CALLED IRON SAVINGS PLAN,

WHICH GAVE SAVERS EXEMPTION FROM BOTH TAXATION

AND SOCIAL SECURITY CONTRIBUTIONS

AS WELL AS A YIELD OF BETWEEN 15% AND 20%.

THE CATCH, HOWEVER, WAS THAT THE MATURITY

WAS LINKED TO THE DAY OF THE FINAL VICTORY IN THE WAR.

SO NO ONE WAS PREPARED TO DO IT.

THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO TOOK OUT THIS SAVINGS PLAN

WERE THOSE WORKING IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR

OR IN NATIONAL SOCIALIST ORGANIZATIONS,

AND ONLY BECAUSE THERE WAS

COLLECTIVE PRESSURE ON THEM TO DO SO.

Narrator: OIL, RATHER THAN THE CONQUEST

OF LEIDEN IN THE EAST,

IS NOW THE MOST IMPORTANT WAR OBJECTIVE,

PROFESSES HITLER AFTER THE LAUNCH

OF THE 1942 SUMMER OFFENSIVE

AGAINST THE RED ARMY.

“IF | DON'T SECURE THE OIL

"FROM THE FIELDS OF MAIKOP AND GROZNY,

| WILL HAVE TO LIQUIDATE THIS WAR."

HE SWEEPS ASIDE ANY CRITICISM FROM HIS GENERALS,

CLAIMING THAT ONLY HIS STEADFASTNESS

HAD PREVENTED A NAPOLEONIC DISASTER.

THIS WAR WAS NOT SIMPLY ABOUT VICTORY OR DEFEAT,

BUT OVER TRIUMPH OR DOWNFALL.

[EXPLOSIONS]

THE WEHRMACHT AMASSES ALL ITS FORCES

FOR AN OFFENSIVE IN SOUTHERN RUSSIA.

THE GERMAN TROOPS BREAK THE SOVIET FRONT AT SOME PLACES,

AND SMALLER UNITS EVEN MANAGE

TO TAKE THE OIL FIELDS OF MAIKOP,

BUT IT IS NOT ENOUGH FOR THE DESPERATELY NEEDED SUPPLIES.

THE GERMANS NO LONGER SHOW ANY KIND OF RESPECT

FOR THE CIVILIAN POPULATION.

IF THEY ENCOUNTER ANY RESISTANCE,

THEY BURN DOWN ENTIRE VILLAGES AND EXECUTE CIVILIANS

UNDER THE PRETENSE THAT THEY ARE PARTISANS.

THE OCCUPIED AREAS ARE RUTHLESSLY PILLAGED.

DESPITE THE FACT THAT SEIZED PRODUCE AND FOODSTUFFS

ARE BEING SENT BACK TO GERMANY BY THE WAGONLOAD,

THE SUPPLY ON THE HOME FRONT IS ON THE VERGE OF COLLAPSE.

[ALY SPEAKING GERMAN]

Translator: HITLER WAS CONSISTENTLY OPPOSED

TO ANY BURDENS BEING IMPOSED ON GERMANS.

DURING A FAMOUS MEETING WITH HERMANN GOERING

IN AUGUST, 1942, HE SAID THAT THE EXPLOITATION

OF THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE

HAD TO BE DOUBLED,

MEANING THAT BOTH THE FOOD QUOTAS

AND THE AMOUNT OF COMMODITIES TAKEN FROM THERE

HAD TO BE INCREASED DRASTICALLY

IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN STABILITY AT HOME

AND NOT LEAD TO ANOTHER 1918 GERMANY.

AN UNKNOWN MILITARY PHYSICIAN

DOCUMENTS THE GRUESOME REALITY OF THE WAR

IN AN ARMY HOSPITAL NEAR BIELEFELD.

EVEN AMPUTEE WEHRMACHT SOLDIERS

ARE TO BE MADE FIT FOR ACTION HERE,

EITHER IN THE WAR OR ON THE HOME FRONT.

WITH SUPPLIES AND REINFORCEMENTS BEING STALLED,

THE WAR IN NORTH AFRICA, TOO,

TURNS INTO A DISASTER FOR THE GERMANS.

THE BRITISH FORCES, WHICH NOW OUTNUMBER THE GERMANS,

DEFEAT FIELD MARSHALL ROMMEL IN EL ALAMEIN.

ROMMEL'S ORDERS TO HIS ARMY TO RETREAT INFURIATE HITLER.

"YOU CAN SHOW YOUR TROOPS NO OTHER WAY

THAN THAT WHICH LEADS TO VICTORY OR DEATH,"

READS THE DICTATOR'S RADIO MESSAGE.

HITLER ISSUES AN ARREST WARRANT FOR ROMMEL,

WHICH IS NEVER CARRIED OUT.

DESPITE HIS DEFEAT,

THE PROPAGANDA CELEBRATES THE FIELD MARSHALL AS A HERO.

YET ROMMEL DISTANCES HIMSELF MORE AND MORE FROM THE FUEHRER.

ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS, HE VOICES HIS OPINION

THAT FINAL VICTORY IS UNATTAINABLE.

ON THE 23rd OF NOVEMBER, 1942,

THE GERMAN SIXTH ARMY, UNDER GENERAL PAULUS,

BECOMES ENCIRCLED IN STALINGRAD.

THANKS TO ARMAMENTS SUPPLIED BY THE WESTERN ALLIES,

THE RED ARMY CAN KEEP THE GERMANS IN CHECK.

HITLER DECREES TO HOLD THE POSITIONS

IN STALINGRAD UNDER ALL CIRCUMSTANCES,

WHICH RESULTS IN A BITTER BATTLE

OVER THE CITY ON THE VOLGA RIVER.

THE SUPPLY OF THE TROOPS FROM THE AIR IS TOTALLY INSUFFICIENT.

IN STALINGRAD, THE WEHRMACHT

FINALLY LOSES THE AURA OF INVINCIBILITY

THAT HAD SURROUNDED IT.

Kershaw: BY THE AUTUMN OF 1942,

GERMAN TROOPS WERE EMBROILED IN STALINGRAD,

AND OF COURSE, OVER THE NEXT MONTHS,

THIS BECAME A HUGE, ENORMOUS, AND DECISIVE DEFEAT

FOR GERMANY.

THE CRUCIAL POINT PERHAPS TO ADD TO THIS

WITH REGARDS TO THE GERMAN OFFENSIVE

IS THAT THE WEHRMACHT WAS ACTUALLY SUBSTANTIALLY WEAKER

IN 1942 THAN IT HAD BEEN IN 1941.

THE GERMANS HAD LOST ALMOST A MILLION MEN IN THE MEANWHILE.

REALISTICALLY, THE VICTORY, THE FINAL VICTORY

AS ENVISAGED IN 1940 AND '41 WAS NO LONGER POSSIBLE.

BUT FROM HITLER'S PERSPECTIVE, IT STILL LOOKED AS IF VICTORY

COULD BE ATTAINED AT THAT POINT.

Narrator: IN THE WOLF'S LAIR,

THE FUEHRER'S MILITARY HEADQUARTERS IN EAST PRUSSIA,

HITLER RECEIVES THE ROMANIAN DICTATOR ION ANTONESCU

ON THE TENTH OF JANUARY, 1943.

THE FUEHRER HOLES HIS ROMANIAN AND ITALIAN ALLIES

JOINTLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SITUATION IN RUSSIA.

HIS GENERALS ARE ORDERED TO HOLD STALINGRAD

TO THE LAST MAN.

THE FACT THAT THE TROOPS IN STALINGRAD

HAVE BEEN SURROUNDED FOR WEEKS IS KEPT SECRET

FROM THE GERMAN PUBLIC ON HITLER'S ORDERS.

A RECEPTION ON HERMANN GOERING'S 50th BIRTHDAY

ON THE 19th OF JANUARY.

THE REICHSMARSHALL HAS PROMISED, AGAINST HIS BETTER JUDGMENT,

TO SUPPLY THE ENCLOSED TROOPS IN STALINGRAD FROM THE AIR,

AND ALTHOUGH GOERING IS NO LONGER

TAKEN PARTICULARLY SERIOUSLY AFTER THE FAILURE

OF HIS AIR FORCE, HE STILL MANAGES TO IMPRESS HITLER

WITH EMPTY PROMISES TIME AND AGAIN.

THE SIXTH ARMY SURRENDERS ON THE 31st OF JANUARY.

"SHAKEN AND BROKEN, OUR PEOPLE BEHOLD THE LOSS

OF THE MEN OF STALINGRAD," READS A LEAFLET

DISTRIBUTED IN FEBRUARY

BY THE RESISTANCE GROUP WHITE ROSE.

"DO WE WANT TO SACRIFICE THE REST OF GERMAN YOUTH

“TO THE BASE AMBITIONS OF A PARTY CLIQUE?

NO. NEVER."

THE COURAGEOUS STUDENTS AROUND SOPHIE AND HANS SCHOLL

ARE ARRESTED AND EXECUTED BEFORE THE MONTH IS OVER.

FRIEDRICH PAULUS, THE COMMANDER OF THE SIXTH ARMY,

DURING AN INTERROGATION BY THE RUSSIANS.

ONE DAY BEFORE THE CAPITULATION, HITLER HAD PROMOTED PAULUS

TO FIELD MARSHALL, AN INVITATION TO COMMIT SUICIDE

IN THE FACE OF DEFEAT.

Kershaw: STALINGRAD WAS AN IMMENSE DEFEAT,

AND THE ENTIRE SIXTH ARMY WAS LOST.

HITLER HIMSELF-- IT COULD NOT BE CONCEALED--

HAD ACTUALLY STOOD BEHIND THIS GERMAN DEFEAT IN STALINGRAD,

AND SO FOR THE FIRST TIME NOW, THE GERMAN POPULATION

BLAMED HITLER PERSONALLY.

THEY WERE VERY CAREFUL HOW THEY EXPRESSED IT,

BUT IT WAS CLEAR THE BLAME

WAS BEING ATTACHED TO HITLER PERSONALLY NOW

FOR THE DEFEAT IN STALINGRAD.

AND SO THE HITLER MYTH WAS NOW PUNCTURED DECISIVELY.

IT WAS A KEY MOMENT IN THE... IN THE DECLINE

OF THE MYTH THAT HAD SURROUNDED HITLER,

THIS MYTH OF INFALLIBILITY,

THAT HE HAD BEEN, WHEN EVERYBODY ELSE WAS MAKING MISTAKES,

THE MILITARY, ALL THE REST OF THE LEADERS,

HITLER WAS STILL UNTOUCHABLE.

NO LONGER, AFTER STALINGRAD, WAS THAT THE CASE.

Narrator: EVEN THOUGH BERCHTESGADEN

IS NOT YET WITHIN THE OPERATING RANGE OF ALLIED BOMBERS,

AIR-RAID PRECAUTIONS ARE TAKEN AT OBERSALZBERG.

HITLER PERSONALLY WATCHES AN EXERCISE

IN THE SPRING OF 1943.

HE NOW SPENDS MORE AND MORE TIME IN HIS MOUNTAINSIDE RETREAT.

[HAMANN SPEAKING GERMAN]

Translator: HE WAS USED TO WINNING

ALL THE BATTLES HE FOUGHT, BECAUSE UNTIL THEN,

EVERYTHING HAD GONE SO WELL FOR HIM.

HE WAS SURE THAT HE WAS THE SAVIOR OF THE GERMAN NATION

AND BELIEVED THAT THE GERMAN PEOPLE WOULD ATTAIN VICTORY

WITH HIM AS THEIR LEADER.

AND BECAUSE OF ALL THE SUCCESSFUL CAMPAIGNS HE HAD LED,

HE FELT VINDICATED IN HIS ROLE AS A SAVIOR.

THE GREAT SHOCK CAME WHEN THE VICTORIES

ON THE BATTLEFIELD ENDED, AND IT WAS THEN THAT HE STARTED

TO FALL APART.

Narrator: HITLER CONFIDES IN JOSEPH GOEBBELS

THAT THE FALL OF THE THIRD REICH COULD BE BROUGHT ABOUT

ONLY THROUGH THE WEAKNESS OF THE POPULACE.

IF THE GERMAN PEOPLE WAS TO BE OBLITERATED

BY A STRONGER NATION,

THEN ONE COULD FEEL NO PITY FOR IT.

[CHEERING]

ON THE EIGHTH OF FEBRUARY,

AT BERLIN'S SPORTPALAST,

THE PROPAGANDA MINISTER DELIVERS HIS FAMOUS "TOTAL WAR" SPEECH.

[SPEAKING GERMAN]

[SHOUTING "SIEG HEIL!"]

[CHEERING]

" WILL CERTAINLY SEE TO IT THAT THIS IS A TOTAL WAR

NOT ONLY ON PAPER," GOEBBELS WRITES IN HIS DIARY.

[AUDIENCE SHOUTING]

IN THE STYLE OF EUROPE'S ECONOMIC DICTATOR,

THE NEW REICH'S ARMAMENTS MINISTER, ALBERT SPEER,

TRIES TO SECURE SUPPLIES

FOR BOTH THE FRONT AND THE HOME TERRITORIES.

IN AN ATTEMPT TO COMPENSATE

FOR THE SHORTAGE IN LABOR FORCE,

SPEER DECREES THE COMPULSORY RECRUITMENT OF WORKERS

IN OCCUPIED AREAS, INCLUDING CONCENTRATION CAMP INMATES

TO WORK AS SLAVE LABORERS IN THE ARMS INDUSTRY.

HERE, FOR THE NEWSREEL, THE MINISTER PRESENTS

THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS IN GERMAN WEAPONS TECHNOLOGY.

DESPITE THE SHORT SUPPLY OF RAW MATERIALS,

SPEER INTERMITTENTLY MANAGES TO RAISE THE PRODUCTION NUMBERS

IN ALL SECTORS.

DURING THIS STAGE OF THE WAR,

THERE IS AN INCREASED DEMAND FOR ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUNS,

AS THE FLYING FORTRESSES OF THE U.S. AIR FORCE

HAVE NOW STARTED TO ENGAGE IN AIR RAIDS OVER GERMANY.

GERMAN ARMAMENT PLANTS ARE THE NUMBER-ONE TARGETS

OF THE AMERICAN BOMBERS,

WHILE THE BRITISH CONCENTRATE ON THE DESTRUCTION

OF ENTIRE CITIES IN NAZI GERMANY.

FOR SOME TIME, GERMAN ANTI-AIRCRAFT ARTILLERY

AND NIGHT-FIGHTERS SUCCEED IN SHOOTING DOWN MANY BOMBERS.

HUNDREDS OF ALLIED PILOTS AND CREWMEMBERS

ARE LYNCHED BY ENRAGED CROWDS

WITH THE CONSENT OF THE NAZI| LEADERSHIP.

YET MORE AND MORE BOMBERS REACH THEIR TARGETS

AND DROP THEIR DEADLY LOAD UNHINDERED.

THE SCENES ARE ALWAYS THE SAME,

WHETHER IN BERLIN, COLOGNE, OR LEIPZIG.

FIREMEN TRY TO PUT OUT THE FIRES,

HELPERS RECOVER THE DEAD,

PEOPLE TRY TO SAVE WHAT CAN BE SAVED.

THE HELPLESS REACTION OF THE AUTHORITIES

RAISES MORE AND MORE VOICES OF CRITICISM,

BUT NO OPPOSITION MAKES ITSELF FELT.

[ELY SPEAKING GERMAN]

Translator: IT'S IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND

THAT EVERY TOTALITARIAN RULE,

BUT ESPECIALLY THIS NATIONAL SOCIALIST REGIME,

AIMS TO DESTROY THE SETTINGS

WHERE PUBLIC OPINION CAN BE FORMED.

THERE WAS NO PRESS. THERE WERE NO ORGANIZATIONS.

AND ALL ASSOCIATIONS AND SOCIETIES

WERE TRANSFERRED INTO THE HANDS OF THE PARTY

AND ORGANIZED ACCORDINGLY.

THERE WERE NO PLACES IN WHICH THE OPPOSITION,

WHICH UNDOUBTEDLY EXISTED, PUBLIC DISCONTENT,

OR PEOPLE WITH A CONVICTION THAT IT WOULD ALL END HORRIBLY

COULD BECOME ORGANIZED AND GAIN A VOICE.

Narrator: FOR A LONG TIME NOW,

HITLER'S OPPONENTS IN THE WEHRMACHT

HAVE HAD NO DOUBTS THAT THE FUEHRER

MUST DIE FOR THE WAR AND THE KILLING TO END.

YOUNG OFFICERS PLAN TO ASSASSINATE THE DICTATOR

DURING A VISIT TO THE TROOPS IN SMOLENSK,

BUT THEIR GENERAL STOPS THEM

BECAUSE CHIEF OF S.S. HIMMLER IS NOT PRESENT.

INSTEAD, HITLER IS CHEERED BY HIS TROOPS,

AND THE PROPAGANDA MACHINE RECORDS THE EVENT.

[MEN CHEERING]

THE DICTATOR'S VISITS TO THE REICH'S CAPITAL

ARE SPORADIC, SO HIS PUBLIC APPEARANCE

AT THE MEMORIAL DAY CELEBRATIONS IS A RARE OPPORTUNITY

FOR THE OPPOSITION IN THE ARMY

TO UNDERTAKE ANOTHER ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT.

THE PLAN FAILS BECAUSE HITLER LEAVES

THE TOIGHAUS, THE ARMORY, TOO EARLY,

AND THE DETERMINED OFFICERS MISSED THEIR CHANCE.

“"TARGET ANITA ABROAD" IS THE TITLE

OF A GERMAN PROPAGANDA FILM SHOWN IN POLAND

WITH THE AIM TO DRAW LABOR FORCES TO GERMANY.

THE FOOTAGE IS FILMED IN THE PRODUCTION HALLS

OF THE CAR PLANT

IN THE CITY OF KDF WAGEN,

WHERE THE FIRST VOLKSWAGEN BEETLES WERE MANUFACTURED

BEFORE THE WAR.

THE WORKERS ARE LED TO BELIEVE

THAT THE CONDITIONS WILL BE BLISSFUL,

WITH EXCELLENT BOARDING,

FIRST-RATE MEDICAL CARE, GOOD PAY,

AND FREQUENT HOLIDAYS AT HOME.

IN THE SMALL VILLAGE OF STEINDORF IN POMERANIA,

AN AMATEUR FILMMAKER DOCUMENTS THE BRUTAL REALITY.

WHEN GERMAN GIRLS BECOME INVOLVED WITH FOREIGN WORKERS,

THE POPULACE SHOWS NO PITY

AND PILLORIES THE GUILTY PARTIES OPENLY.

DURING THE LAST WEEK OF JULY, 1943,

HUNDREDS OF R.A.F. BOMBERS

FLY SEVERAL NIGHT RAIDS OVER HAMBURG.

[EXPLOSIONS]

THE BOMBS CREATE A HORRIFIC FIRESTORM.

ENTIRE CITY DISTRICTS ARE CONSUMED WITHIN HOURS.

PEOPLE ARE ENGULFED IN THE HUGE INFERNO.

THE TORNADIC FIRE INCINERATES EVERYTHING IN ITS WAY.

FIREMAN HANS PONSVY SHOOTS THIS FOOTAGE

WITH THE CONSENT OF THE AUTHORITIES

FOR DOCUMENTATION PURPOSES.

OVER 35,000 PEOPLE ARE KILLED

DURING THE SO-CALLED OPERATION GOMORRAH.

BUT THE ALLIED ATTACKS CANNOT BREAK

THE SPIRIT OF THE SURVIVORS.

Translator: PEOPLE IN HAMBURG HAD HARDLY SLEPT

THROUGH A SINGLE NIGHT SINCE 1940.

THEY WERE TOTALLY SHATTERED,

EVEN MORE SO AFTER THOSE HUGE RAIDS IN THE SUMMER OF 1943.

SO RESISTANCE TO THE REGIME IS NOT A TOP PRIORITY HERE.

IN A SITUATION AS BAD AS THIS,

THE PEOPLE'S INTERESTS ARE REDUCED TO AN INDIVIDUAL LEVEL.

A KIND OF LOYAL APATHY DEVELOPS, WHICH ARISES

FROM THE LACK OF ALTERNATIVES,

WHEN EITHER DOESN'T RECOGNIZE THE PATHS THAT LEAD TO A CHANGE

OR PERCEIVES THEM AS BEING BLOCKED.

ALSO, WITH THE WAR AGAINST THE SOVIET UNION,

THE REGIME HAD ALREADY DEFINED ITS OWN PATH.

“"THERE'S NO TURNING BACK.

“THERE IS ONLY VICTORY OR DEFEAT.

"AND IF WE ARE DEFEATED, WE WILL ALL DIE,

AND WITH US, A LARGE SECTION OF THE GERMANS."

Narrator: IN THE SUMMER OF 1943,

HEINRICH HIMMLER VISITS

THE TOP-SECRET ARMY RESEARCH CENTER IN PEENEMUNDE.

THE REICHSFUHRER S.S. HAS PROFESSED HIS INTEREST

IN THE A-4 ROCKET FOR SOME TIME

AND WANTS TO SEE THE DEVELOPMENTS FOR HIMSELF.

THE TRIAL RESULTS STILL LEAVE MUCH TO BE DESIRED,

BUT THE NAZI LEADERSHIP HAS HIGH HOPES

THAT THE WUNDERWAFFE WILL SOON BE OPERATIONAL

AND PROMISES THE POPULATION DEVASTATING RETALIATION STRIKES

AGAINST BRITISH CITIES.

THE FUEHRER WANTS TO HALT

THE SOVIET ADVANCES ON THE EASTERN FRONT

WITH A COLOSSAL DEMONSTRATION OF POWER NEAR KURSK.

ACCORDING TO HIS CALCULATIONS, OPERATION CITADEL

IS TO BE A FORMIDABLE OFFENSIVE

AND THE COMEBACK OF HIS ARMY IN THE EAST,

WHICH WOULD ALSO SERVE TO UNNERVE THE WESTERN ALLIES.

BUT THESE PLANS PROVE TO BE TOTALLY UNREALISTIC.

700,000 WEHRMACHT FORCES STORM IN VAIN

AGAINST THE LAYERED RED ARMY DEFENSES,

FOR THE GERMAN OFFENSIVE LACKS ANY STRATEGIC PLANNING.

HITLER FINALLY CALLS OFF THE POINTLESS OPERATION.

FROM THIS POINT ON, THE RED ARMY TAKES THE INITIATIVE

AND THE WEHRMACHT FINDS ITSELF IN RETREAT.

[HAMANN SPEAKING GERMAN]

Translator: THE WORST OF ALL IS THAT HE NEVER CAME FACE TO FACE

WITH THE HARDSHIP OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE.

HE TRAVELED ACROSS GERMANY IN HIS SPECIAL TRAINS,

AND WHEN HE PASSED THROUGH CITIES,

HE WOULD DRAW THE CURTAINS.

HE DIDN'T WANT TO SEE GERMANY'S CITIES IN RUINS.

IT WAS LIKE A SELF-PROTECTION MECHANISM

WHICH SOMETIMES MUST HAVE HELPED HIM

TO MAKE HIMSELF BELIEVE THAT THE FINAL VICTORY WAS NEAR.

BUT THESE PROMISES AND SPEECHES

WERE MORE FOR THE BENEFIT OF HIS AUDIENCES.

HE COULDN'T REALLY HAVE BELIEVED IT HIMSELF.

Narrator: AT STALIN'S COMMAND, THE RED ARMY LAUNCHES

A LARGE-SCALE OFFENSIVE AGAINST THE ARMY GROUP NORTH

ON THE 14th OF JANUARY.

WITHIN A FEW WEEKS, THE SOVIET TROOPS

MANAGE TO LIBERATE LENINGRAD

AFTER 900 DAYS UNDER GERMAN SIEGE.

DESPITE THE INCREASINGLY HOPELESS SITUATION,

HITLER REJECTS A STRATEGIC RETREAT OF THE WEHRMACHT,

STICKING TO HIS "HOLD OR DIE" MAXIM.

THE RESULT IS THAT BOTH SIDES SUFFER SEVERE LOSSES,

AND LARGE NUMBERS OF GERMAN SOLDIERS

ARE CAPTURED BY THE SOVIETS.

THE DICTATOR KNOWS THAT THE TROOPS

OF THE WESTERN ALLIES IN BRITAIN

WILL EVENTUALLY TRY TO LAND IN NORTHERN FRANCE

AND ORDERS ALL AVAILABLE UNITS TO DEPLOY

FOR THE DEFENSE OF THE SO-CALLED ATLANTIC WALL.

THIS FOOTAGE IS FILMED BY A CAMERAMAN

OF THE STURMGESCHUTZ ABTEILUNG,

ASSAULT GUN BATTALION 200, IN JANUARY, 1944.

FIELD MARSHALL ERWIN ROMMEL

DURING AN INSPECTION OF THE TROOPS.

ALTHOUGH HIS CAMPAIGN IN NORTH AFRICA

DID NOT FURNISH THE EXPECTED SUCCESS,

THE DESERT FOX IS REGARDED AS A GIFTED COMMANDER

AND IS GIVEN THE MISSION OF COORDINATING FORCES IN NORMANDY.

THE FUEHRER EXPECTS AN INVASION AT THE NARROWEST POINT

OF THE CHANNEL NEAR CALAIS.

SO THE GERMANS HAVE STATIONED OVER 100,000 MEN IN NORMANDY.

THE RECENT DEFEATS DON'T FAIL TO MAKE AN IMPRESSION

ON THE ALLIES OF THE NAZIS.

ON THE 18th OF MARCH, 1944, HITLER ACCUSES HUNGARY'S REGENT,

ADMIRAL HORTHY,

OF CONDUCTING SECRET NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE ALLIES

AS WELL AS OF ALLOWING

NEARLY ONE MILLION JEWS TO LIVE IN FREEDOM IN HIS COUNTRY.

HORTHY IS ASKED TO IMMEDIATELY INVITE THE WEHRMACHT

INTO UNOCCUPIED HUNGARY.

THE REGENT ACCEDES TO THE PRESSURE

AND RETURNS TO BUDAPEST

ACCOMPANIED BY HIGH-RANKING S.8. OFFICIALS.

THE WEHRMACHT OCCUPIES BUDAPEST.

GERMAN PROPAGANDA PROCLAIMS THE OCCUPATION

TO SERVE ONLY THE SECURITY OF THE COUNTRY.

ONE MONTH LATER, THE DEPORTATIONS OF HUNGARIAN JEWS

TO THE EXTERMINATION CAMPS BEGIN.

IN A PERIOD OF JUST TWO MONTHS,

400,000 PEOPLE ARE MURDERED IN AUSCHWITZ.

ADOLF EICHMANN, THE MAN RESPONSIBLE

FOR THE LOGISTICS IN THE REICH'S MAIN SECURITY OFFICE,

ORGANIZES THE TRANSPORTATION OF JEWS ALL ACROSS EUROPE.

THE RELEVANT MINISTRIES IN BERLIN ARE HAPPY

TO OFFER ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANCE.

THE ONLY KNOWN FILM FOOTAGE OF ONE SUCH TRANSPORT

IS FILED IN THE WESTERBORK CONCENTRATION CAMP

IN HOLLAND IN 1944.

THE FILM WAS COMMISSIONED BY THE COMMANDING OFFICER HIMSELF.

ON ARRIVAL IN AUSCHWITZ,

APPROXIMATELY 2/3 OF THE PRISONERS

ARE MURDERED IMMEDIATELY, AND THE REST ARE SENT TO WORK

AS SLAVE LABORERS IN POLAND OR IN THE THIRD REICH.

[ELY SPEAKING GERMAN]

Translator: THE SELECTION OF PEOPLE FIT TO WORK

WAS INTENSIFIED AGAIN.

IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING THAT THOSE FIT TO WORK

WERE ALSO TO DIE

AFTER THEY HAD DONE THEIR WORK.

BUT DUE TO THE FACT

THAT THEY WERE SELECTED TO BECOME LABORERS,

THEY WERE AT LEAST GIVEN A CHANCE

TO SURVIVE FOR SOME TIME.

Narrator: FOR THE FIRST TIME,

THE CELEBRATIONS FOR THE FUEHRER'S BIRTHDAY,

HIS 55th, TAKE PLACE WITHOUT HIM.

[APPLAUSE]

ON THE OCCASION OF THE CELEBRATIONS,

GOEBBELS HAS BERLIN DECORATED WITH FLAGS AND SLOGANS

BRIMMING WITH PATHOS--

"OUR WALLS ARE BROKEN BUT NOT OUR HEARTS."

THE PARTY NEWSPAPER, "VOLKISCHER BEOBACHTER," WRITES,

"NEVER BEFORE HAS THE GERMAN PEOPLE

“LOOKED UP TO ITS LEADER AS TRUSTINGLY AS IN THESE HOURS,

"AS HE HAS BECOME AWARE OF THE WHOLE EXTENT

OF THIS STRUGGLE FOR OUR LIVES."

ON THE THIRD OF JUNE, 1944, EVA BRAUN'S SISTER GRETL

MARRIES S.S. GRUPPENFUHRER HERMANN FEGELEIN IN SALZBURG.

FEGELEIN WAS THE COMMANDER OF AN S.S. CAVALRY DIVISION

IN THE EAST AND HAS THE LIVES

OF TENS OF THOUSANDS OF CIVILIANS ON HIS CONSCIENCE.

THE CELEBRATION IS HELD ON THE BERGHOF.

IT IS THE LAST PARTY THAT HITLER'S LOVER WILL ORGANIZE

IN THE MOUNTAIN RESIDENCE.

THE GROUP PORTRAIT SHOWS THE BRIDE AND GROOM WITH HITLER.

THE SIXTH OF JUNE, 1944, IS TO BECOME

THE LONGEST DAY OF WORLD WAR II.

THE LANDINGS IN NORMANDY COMMENCE AT DAWN.

SUFFERING HEAVY CASUALTIES, THE ALLIED FORCES

STORM THE FRENCH COAST ALONG AN 80-KILOMETER STRETCH.

AT THE OMAHA BEACH SECTION,

THE AMERICANS ENCOUNTER FIERCE RESISTANCE.

MACHINE GUNS MOW DOWN

THE CHARGING SOLDIERS IN THE HUNDREDS.

Kershaw: AN INVASION WAS EXPECTED

AND EXPECTED IMMINENTLY,

BUT THE GERMAN HIGH COMMAND OF THE WEHRMACHT

WAS UNSURE PRECISELY WHERE THIS INVASION WOULD TAKE PLACE.

HITLER HIMSELF HAD ACTUALLY THOUGHT

THAT IT WOULD TAKE PLACE IN NORMANDY,

OR SO HE LATER SAID,

BUT ONLY IN ONE OF THE FOUR BEACHES

IN WHICH THE ALLIES LANDED IN NORMANDY

WERE GERMAN TROOPS AT THE READY,

AND THAT WAS OMAHA BEACH,

BECAUSE THERE WAS VERY TOUGH FIGHTING BY THE AMERICANS

WITH HUGE NUMBERS OF CASUALTIES

ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE FIGHTING.

BUT EVEN THERE, AT THE END OF THIS LONGEST DAY

OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR, THE LANDING HAD BEEN SECURED,

AND HITLER HIMSELF, EVEN AFTER THE LANDING HAD BEEN SECURED,

THOUGHT THAT... WAS STILL OPTIMISTIC

THAT THE INVASION COULD BE REPULSED.

UNTIL THEN, HE'D BEEN ABSOLUTELY ADAMANT

THAT THE INVASION-- HE WAS WAITING FOR THE INVASION,

BECAUSE WHEN THE INVASION TOOK PLACE, IT WOULD BE REPELLED.

Narrator: 10,000 ALLIED SOLDIERS ARE KILLED OR WOUNDED

ON D-DAY.

"NOW WE FINALLY HAVE THEM WHERE WE CAN BEAT THEM,"

COMMENTS HITLER WHEN HE HEARS THE NEWS OF THE LANDING.

BY THE EVENING OF THE FIRST DAY, THE ALLIED FORCES

HAVE MANAGED TO ESTABLISH SEVERAL BRIDGEHEADS IN FRANCE.

FROM THIS POINT ON, THE ASSAULT ON FORTRESS EUROPE

WILL BE UNSTOPPABLE.

AT THE WEHRMACHT HIGH COMMAND IN EAST PRUSSIA,

OFFICERS WHILE AWAY THEIR TIME BY MAKING A FILM

THAT DOCUMENTS THE DAILY ROUTINE OF THE GENERAL STAFF.

MEANWHILE, THE FUEHRER'S MILITARY HEADQUARTERS

IN THE NEARBY WOLF'S LAIR

IS MOVED INTO A BOMBPROOF FORTIFICATION

DURING HITLER'S ABSENCE.

THE DICTATOR AND HIS ENTOURAGE

DO NOT RETURN TO EAST PRUSSIA UNTIL MID-JULY.

ON THE AFTERNOON OF THE 20th OF JULY,

HITLER WELCOMES BENITO MUSSOLINI AT THE RAILWAY STATION

OF THE WOLF'S LAIR COMPLEX.

JUST A FEW HOURS EARLIER, THE FUEHRER HAD SURVIVED

AN ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT BY MEANS OF A BRIEFCASE BOMB

DURING THE DAILY STRATEGY MEETING.

THE PROPAGANDA MINISTER DESCRIBES THE SCENERY

IN THE DEMOLISHED BARRACKS ON THE RADIO.

Kershaw: WHAT HE NEVER ENVISAGED WAS A STRIKE

FROM WITHIN HIS OWN ARMED FORCES LEADERSHIP.

SO FOR HITLER, THIS WAS SOMETHING WHICH WAS JUST

AN EXTRAORDINARY BLOW,

AND HE RESPONDED, AS HE ONLY WOULD,

WITH ENORMOUS RUTHLESSNESS AND BRUTALITY.

THIS WAS A STAB IN THE BACK

FROM WITHIN THE ARMED FORCES LEADERSHIP.

IT LEFT WITHIN HIM NOW A VERY PRONOUNCED SENSE

OF BETRAYAL, OF TREASON FROM WITHIN,

AN OBSESSION WITH THIS TREASON FROM WITHIN,

AND IT PROVIDED HIM WITH THE ALIBI, OF COURSE,

FOR WHY EVERYTHING HAD GONE WRONG.

SO NOW HE WAS ABLE TO BLAME EVERYTHING--

THE COLLAPSE OF THE EASTERN FRONT,

THE SUCCESS OF THE INVASION IN THE WEST, WHATEVER--

ON THE PEOPLE AROUND HIM

WHO HAVE BEEN PERPETRATING TREASON.

AND THIS SENSE OF INTENSE DISTRUST AND OBSESSION

WITH TREASON FROM WITHIN REMAINED WITH HIM

TO THE VERY END.

Narrator: AFTER THE FAILURE OF THE COUP D'ETAT,

THE PLOT LEADERS AROUND GRAF VON STAUFFENBERG

ARE COURT-MARTIALED AND EXECUTED BY FIRING SQUAD

ON THE SAME NIGHT.

HITLER HAS THE SURVIVING CONSPIRATORS

RELENTLESSLY ROUNDED UP AND SENTENCED TO DEATH

IN SHOW TRIALS BEFORE HIS BLOOD JUDGE, ROLAND FREISLER.

ONE OF THEM IS ULRICH GRAF SCHWERIN VON SCHWANENFELD.

[ALY SPEAKING GERMAN]

Translator: THE HEROES OF THE 20th OF JULY,

AS WE CALL THEM TODAY, WERE THE TRAITORS IN THOSE TRIALS,

WHICH WERE ALL FILMED FOR THE NEWSREEL.

BUT FREISLER'S BEHAVIOR WAS SO OUT OF LINE DURING THE TRIAL,

THAT GOEBBELS REALIZED IT WOULDN'T BE GOOD

FOR THE PROPAGANDA.

IN ORDER FOR THE TRIALS TO BE EFFECTIVE

FOR PROPAGANDA PURPOSES, HE WOULD HAVE PREFERRED

A DIFFERENT, FAIRER ATMOSPHERE

DURING THE PROCEEDINGS.

Narrator: THE PEOPLE'S COURT CONDEMNS OVER 100 DEFENDANTS

TO DEATH BY HANGING

AND ANOTHER 30 TO PRISON SENTENCES.

ALONG WITH MANY POLITICAL PRISONERS,

THE BRANDENBURG-GEURDEN PENITENTIARY

ALSO HOUSES NORMAL CITIZENS WHO HAVE PUBLICLY RAISED DOUBTS

ON THE FINAL VICTORY.

THE NAZI JUDICIAL SYSTEM PROCEEDS MERCILESSLY

AGAINST ANY FORM OF OPPOSITION.

[ALY SPEAKING GERMAN]

Translator: OF ALL THE DEATH SENTENCES

IMPOSED ON GERMANS BY THE PEOPLE'S COURT,

95% WERE HANDED OUT IN THE YEARS 1943 TO '44.

AS A RESULT, POLITICAL DEBATE IN PUBLIC

WAS PRACTICALLY SILENCED.

IN THIS RESPECT, THE NAZI| PROPAGANDA WAS SUCCESSFUL,

IN AS MUCH AS IT MANAGED TO RESTRAIN PEOPLE

FROM SPEAKING OUT.

Narrator: A MASS FUNERAL FOR THE DEAD

AFTER A BOMBING RAID IN NORDENHAM,

A TOWN AT THE MOUTH OF THE WESER RIVER.

THE PHRASE "DIED FOR THE FUEHRER,

THE PEOPLE, AND THE FATHERLAND,"

APPEARS LESS AND LESS OFTEN IN OBITUARIES.

“IF ONE RECEIVES SUCH BLOWS,

ONLY AN IDIOT CAN BELIEVE THAT THE WAR WILL BE WON,"

REASONS A CITIZEN IN BERLIN,

ACCORDING TO A CONFIDENTIAL REPORT.

DESPITE THE FACT THAT THE BOMB DAMAGE IN PLANTS

CONTRIBUTING TO THE WAR EFFORT

IS OFTEN PATCHED UP WITHIN HOURS

AND THE FACTORIES CAN MANUFACTURE AGAIN SOON,

ARMAMENTS MINISTER ALBERT SPEER HAS LONG LOST THE RACE

AGAINST THE ALLIES.

IN 1944 ALONE, THE AMERICANS BUILD AS MANY AIRCRAFT

AS GERMANY HAD PRODUCED OVER THE COURSE OF THE ENTIRE WAR.

THE WONDER WEAPONS PROMISED BY THE PROPAGANDA,

SUCH AS THE MESSERSCHMITT ME-262 JET FIGHTER HERE,

MAY BE DEPLOYED IN OPERATIONAL SERVICE

IN ISOLATED CASES, BUT CANNOT WIN BACK

THE AIR SUPREMACY FROM THE ALLIED AIR FORCES.

AND ALSO, HITLER'S ROCKETS FROM PEENEMUNDE

FAIL TO HALT THE ADVANCE OF THE ALLIES.

THE REICH PLENIPOTENTIARY FOR TOTAL WAR, JOSEPH GOEBBELS,

MUST NOW MOBILIZE THE LAST RESERVES ON THE HOME FRONT.

ANYONE WHO IS CAPABLE OF CARRYING A GUN

IS CONSCRIPTED FOR THE VOLKSSTURM.

Translator: I'VE READ MANY DIARIES

FROM THAT TIME-- '43, '44, '45--

AND WHAT STANDS OUT IS THAT PEOPLE

DIDN'T ACTUALLY CRITICIZE HITLER HIMSELF,

BUT THE PEOPLE IN HIS ENVIRONMENT.

GOERING, IN PARTICULAR, WAS VERY UNPOPULAR.

BUT MANY PEOPLE COULDN'T STAND GOEBBELS EITHER.

“THEY DON'T LET OUR FUHRER GET BACK ON HIS FEET," PEOPLE WROTE.

AND BECAUSE BY THEN, HITLER HAD PRACTICALLY WITHDRAWN

FROM PUBLIC LIFE,

PEOPLE WERE MORE PREPARED TO FORGIVE HIM.

THEN AT SOME POINT AROUND THE END OF 1944,

A RUMOR STARTED GOING AROUND THAT HITLER WAS NO LONGER ALIVE.

Narrator: ARMAMENTS MINISTER ALBERT SPEER VISITS

THE DEPLOYMENT ZONE OF THE ARDENNES OFFENSIVE.

IN MID-DECEMBER, 1944,

THE WEHRMACHT HAD MOBILIZED ALL REMAINING RESERVES

AND LAUNCHED OPERATION AUTUMN MIST.

“"THE LOW POINT HAD BEEN OVERCOME,"

DECLARED THE DICTATOR AT THE TURN OF THE YEAR

FROM HIS HEADQUARTERS IN BAD NAUHEIM.

"ULTIMATELY THE REICH WOULD BE VICTORIOUS."

AN UNKNOWN FILMMAKER CAPTURES THESE SEEMINGLY CAREFREE SCENES

AT AN ANTI-AIRCRAFT ARTILLERY POSITION

SOMEWHERE IN THE SOUTH OF GERMANY.

WOMEN, ADOLESCENTS, AND MEN UNFIT FOR THE FRONT

ARE THE LAST CONTINGENT THE NAZI LEADERS CAN MUSTER.

THEY ARE TO HALT THE WAVES OF ALLIED BOMBERS

WHICH BY NOW ENTER THE GERMAN AIRSPACE ALMOST UNHINDERED.

BRITISH AND U.S. FORCES INTENSIFY THE AIR RAIDS

OVER GERMANY ONCE AGAIN.

THE LISTS OF TARGETS GROW LONGER,

AND EVEN SMALLER TOWNS

WITH NO APPARENT STRATEGIC SIGNIFICANCE ARE LEVELED.

WITHIN THE SPACE OF A FEW WEEKS,

MASSIVE DESTRUCTION IS WREAKED ON GERMAN CITIES.

ON THE THIRD OF FEBRUARY, 1945,

1,000 AMERICAN BOMBERS FLY A LARGE RAID ON BERLIN.

SOME 3,000 PEOPLE ARE KILLED DURING OPERATION THUNDERCLAP,

AND OVER 120,000 BECOME HOMELESS.

AND ALTHOUGH CITIES LIKE DRESDEN, POTSDAM,

WURZBURG, OR TRAUNSTEIN ARE ALMOST COMPLETELY DESTROYED,

THE PEOPLE CONTINUE TO STICK IT OUT,

FOR MANY CANNOT IMAGINE A FUTURE WITHOUT HITLER.

[ALY SPEAKING GERMAN]

Translator: ON THE ONE HAND, WE HAVE THE FEAR OF DEFEAT,

ESPECIALLY AFTER EVERYTHING PEOPLE HAD LEARNED

ABOUT THE CRIMES COMMITTED BY GERMANS

AND ABOUT HOW THE CONQUERED

AND THE DISCRIMINATED PEOPLES HAD BEEN TREATED,

IN PARTICULARLY THE JEWS.

THEY WERE EFFECTIVELY FRIGHTENED.

THEN WE HAVE THE PROPAGANDA SAYING THAT SUBHUMANS

ARE INVADING THE GERMAN REICH,

MEANING THE RUSSIANS FROM THE EAST,

COMBINED WITH SOME REAL REPORTS ABOUT THE CONDUCT

OF RED ARMY UNITS IN THE CITIES THEY HAD TAKEN.

Narrator: THE 13th OF JANUARY

MARKS THE BEGINNING OF THE MAJOR RED ARMY OFFENSIVE

IN EAST PRUSSIA.

THE DEPLETED WEHRMACHT DIVISIONS CANNOT HALT

THE SUPERIOR SOVIET FORCES.

MANY REFUGEE TREKS OUT OF EAST PRUSSIA

ARE WIPED OUT BY THE RED ARMY.

“"THE AMOUNT OF GUILT HITLER HAS INCURRED

IS ENORMOUS," A SOLDIER WRITES, AND CONTINUES,

“IF | CAN'T SEE MY FAMILY AGAIN,

THEN | DON'T WANT TO LIVE ANYMORE."

RED ARMY UNITS LIBERATE AUSCHWITZ,

HITLER'S DEATH FACTORY IN POLAND,

ON THE 27th OF JANUARY, 1945.

ONLY ABOUT 7,000 INMATES REMAIN ALIVE IN THE CAMP,

SICK PEOPLE AND CHILDREN

WHO HAVE BEEN SUBJUGATED TO MEDICAL EXPERIMENTS.

NEARLY 6 MILLION JEWS WERE METHODICALLY MURDERED

IN THE EXTERMINATION CAMPS--

MEN, WOMEN, AND OVER 1.5 MILLION CHILDREN

SHOT BY DEATH SQUADS, GASSED, POISONED,

OR BEATEN TO DEATH.

THEY ARE THE VICTIMS OF THE MOST HEINOUS CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY,

ORGANIZED AND CARRIED OUT IN THE NAME OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE.

ON THE WESTERN FRONT, TOO,

THE WAR COMES INTO GERMANY.

ON THE SIXTH OF MARCH, AMERICAN TROOPS ADVANCE

INTO THE CENTER OF COLOGNE.

THE NAZI FUNCTIONARIES WANT TO DEFEND THE CITY

TO THE LAST MAN ALIVE.

[GUNFIRE]

U.S. ARMY CAMERA CREWS CAPTURE THE DRAMATIC SCENE

SHOWING HOUSE-TO-HOUSE FIGHTING AT FIRSTHAND.

AT 5 P.M. LOCAL TIME, THE BATTLE FOR COLOGNE IS OVER.

AMERICAN FORCES REACH THE BANK OF THE RHINE RIVER.

ON THE 20th OF MARCH,

HITLER APPEARS FOR THE LAST TIME

BEFORE THE NEWSREEL CAMERAS IN THE GARDEN

OF THE CHANCELLERY OF THE REICH.

HE WANTS GERMANY TO GO DOWN WITH HIM.

Kershaw: HITLER HAD SAID ON A NUMBER OF OCCASIONS,

“IF THIS WAR IS LOST, IT WILL BE BECAUSE

“"THE GERMAN PEOPLE IS NOT STRONG ENOUGH,

"AND IF THAT IS THE CASE, IT DESERVES TO GO UNDER,

IT DESERVES TO SUFFER DEFEAT."

HITLER HAS SAID, “IF WE GO DOWN,

WE'LL TAKE A WORLD WITH US."

SO THIS WAS HITLER'S MENTALITY THERE,

THAT HE WOULD...

THAT IF THERE WERE TO BE NO SUCCESSFUL OUTCOME

TO THIS WAR FOR GERMANY,

THEN IT WILL BE WITH TOTAL DESTRUCTION,

DESTRUCTION WITHIN GERMANY AS WELL AS WITHOUT.

HE WOULD TAKE HIS ENEMIES DOWN WITH HIM INTO THE ABYSS.

AND THE GERMAN PEOPLE WOULD HAVE NO NEED FOR ANY PROVISIONS,

AND THEREFORE EVERYTHING WITHIN GERMANY COULD BE DESTROYED.

Narrator: HAVING CROSSED THE RHINE,

BRITISH AND U.S. TROOPS CONTINUE TO ADVANCE EASTWARD.

HITLER IS SURPRISED

THAT THE WESTERN FRONT HAS COLLAPSED SO SOON.

HE SENSES TREASON.

MANY WEHRMACHT UNITS SURRENDER MUCH TOO QUICKLY.

THE SPELL THAT HAD HELD THE SOLDIERS BOUND TO HIM FOR YEARS

IS NOW COMPLETELY BROKEN,

ESPECIALLY HERE, FAR AWAY FROM HIS REMAINING SPHERE OF POWER.

THE ATROCITIES CAN NO LONGER BE CONCEALED.

IN EARLY APRIL, 1945, U.S. SOLDIERS LIBERATE

THE OHRDRUF CONCENTRATION CAMP IN THURINGIA.

SOME 10,000 SLAVE LABORERS HAD BEEN LOCKED UP HERE.

ONLY A FEW SURVIVE THE NAZI| BARBARITY.

THE AMERICANS ARE SHOCKED.

OHRDRUF IS ONE OF THE FIRST CAMPS

THEY HAVE SET EYES ON.

ON ORDERS FROM THE VICTORS, THE RELUCTANT RESIDENTS

OF THE NEARBY VILLAGE

ARE CONFRONTED WITH THE GRUESOME TRUTH.

THE ADVANCING RED ARMY

HAS CONCENTRATED HALF A MILLION SOLDIERS

ALONG THE ODER RIVER.

ON THE 16th OF APRIL, THE SOVIETS LAUNCH

THE OFFENSIVE ON BERLIN.

HOUSE-TO-HOUSE FIGHTING RAGES IN THE STREETS OF THE CAPITAL.

DESPITE FIERCE RESISTANCE,

THE SOVIETS TAKE ONE DISTRICT AFTER ANOTHER

AND ADVANCE TOWARD THE CITY CENTER.

HITLER HAS WITHDRAWN TO HIS UNDERGROUND BUNKER

BELOW THE REICH'S CHANCELLERY.

HE ORDERS TROOP UNITS THAT NO LONGER EXIST

OR ARE TOO FAR AWAY TO INTERVENE TO PUSH FORWARD.

EVEN IN THIS DESPERATE SITUATION,

CAPITULATION IS OUT OF THE QUESTION FOR THE FUEHRER,

AND THUS, TENS OF THOUSANDS OF SOLDIERS FROM BOTH SIDES

AS WELL AS COUNTLESS CIVILIANS MUST DIE

IN THE STREETS OF BERLIN.

Kershaw: AT THE VERY END,

WE ONLY KNOW EFFECTIVELY THAT HE WAS NOW RESIGNED TO HIS FATE,

THAT HE HAD, IN A SENSE, PREPARED THIS ENDING,

WITH WAS ALMOST A THEATRICAL END TO THE THIRD REICH

WITH HIS OWN... HIS OWN SUICIDE NOW

WITH THE RUSSIANS ALMOST LITERALLY AT THE VERY DOORS

AND AGAIN WITH THE NOTION THAT...

WHICH WAS PUT OUT BY PROPAGANDA THEN,

THAT THE FUEHRER HAD FALLEN WITH HIS TROOPS--

WHICH, OF COURSE, A LAST LIE--

FALLEN WITH HIS TROOPS AT THE VERY END,

AGAIN A PORTRAYAL OF THIS IMAGE

OF HEROIC LEADERSHIP TO THE VERY END,

THE IMAGE THAT HE WANTED TO BE THAT WHICH WOULD OUTLAST HIM

AND GO INTO POSTERITY AS THE IMAGE OF HEROISM,

SURVIVING TO THE VERY END,

UNLIKE 1918, NOT FOLLOWING

THE COWARDLY WAY OUT OF CAPITULATION,

BUT FIGHTING HEROICALLY ON TO THE BITTER END.

Narrator: THE DICTATOR MARRIES EVA BRAUN

IN THE FUEHRER BUNKER ON THE 30th OF APRIL, 1945,

AT 3:30 IN THE AFTERNOON.

THE NEWLYWEDS RETREAT TO HITLER'S PRIVATE CHAMBERS

AND COMMIT SUICIDE.

JOSEPH GOEBBELS ASSUMES THE TASK

OF ORGANIZING THE END OF THE NAZI RULE.

TWO DAYS LATER, THE FORCES DEFENDING BERLIN SURRENDER.

THE VICTORS SEIZE THE CENTER OF POWER OF THE THIRD REICH.

ON THE THIRD OF MAY,

THE CORPSES OF JOSEPH GOEBBELS AND HIS FAMILY

ARE LINED UP IN THE GARDEN OF PRITSENZIE PRISON

WHILE SOVIET CAMERAS ROLLED.

THE GOEBBELS FAMILY THAT WOULD NOT EVEN SPARE

THEIR OWN CHILDREN ARE MADE A SYMBOL

OF A DEADLY FANATICISM WHICH IN THE END

CLAIMED THE LIVES OF 16 MILLION PEOPLE.

ON THE 30th OF JANUARY, 1933,

A CHEERING CROWD OF HITLER'S FOLLOWERS

MARCHED THROUGH BRANDENBURG GATE HOLDING TORCHES

AFTER HIS APPOINTMENT AS REICH CHANCELLOR.

12 YEARS, 3 MONTHS, AND 9 DAYS LATER,

EVERYTHING IS OVER.

GERMANY LIES IN RUINS,

OCCUPIED AND SOON TO BE DIVIDED.

HIGH-RANKING NAZIS COMMIT SUICIDE

OR SURRENDER TO THE VICTORS.

REICHS MARSHALL HERMANN GOERING BELIEVES HE MAY HAVE

A POLITICAL FUTURE, BUT IS ARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL.

JUST LIKE MANY OTHER NAZIS,

HE IS UNAWARE OF ANY WRONGDOING.

THE FINAL ACT TAKES PLACE ON THE EIGHTH OF MAY

IN THE BERLIN BUREAU OF KLAUSHORST.

IT IS INCUMBENT UPON THE MILITARY LEADERS

TO FORMALLY END THE NAZI RULE OVER GERMANY

AND HALF OF EUROPE.

IN THE PRESENCE OF ARMY COMMANDERS

OF THE VICTORIOUS ALLIED POWERS,

FIELD MARSHALL WILHELM KEITEL SIGNS THE CAPITULATION

OF THE GERMAN ARMED FORCES ON LAND, AT SEA, AND IN THE AIR

SHORTLY AFTER MIDNIGHT.

AT EXACTLY 11:01 P.M., THE GUNS HAD FALLEN SILENT

ON ALL FRONTS.

THE SECOND WORLD WAR IS OVER.

THE THIRD REICH HAS CEASED TO EXIST.