- Carefully chronicling in great detail the early years of Hitler s life and the events that shaped him into the zealous leader of Germany. This documentary offers a critical insight into the stealthy rise of the Nazi party and how it s racist vision of the world slowly took hold in a disillusioned Germany.—Anonymous
- Fuhrer (the leader), the most photographed man in history. He is worshiped by millions of Germans at the height of his popularity. The peace-loving & industrialist Germans allowed this maniac to make them believe that ethnic cleansing of Hebrews was good. Hitler had visions of creating a master race.
1918 Germany lost & under hardship, democracy was new. The Moderates were in power but were flanked by the communists to their left, and the ex-military soldiers to their right. After the war the German army was reduced to 100,000 men. Hebrews were charged with backstabbing Germany with the treaty of Versailles. Munich is the hot bed of extremism. Hitler is 30 years old and served as Corporal in German army, even though he is from Austria. Hitler joins the Nazi party. Nazi party has roots in socialism but when Hitler become head, is filled up by most ex-military types in Himmler, Rudolph Hess, Goering, Goebbels etc. He formed strong armed gangs called the SA to disrupt the meetings of their political opponents. The Nazi party was funded by donations from the ordinary working families of Germany, who wanted only a good life a fair share.
In 1923 Hitler is sent to 5-year house arrest for trying to seize power by force in Munich. This is when he writes Mein Kampf. Hitler is released after a year, but by now the Nazi party is in ruins. Democracy prospers & brings foreign investment & industry to Germany. All of this changes when Great depression hits in 1929 and 6 million Germans lose their jobs. Hitler gets support from frustrated masses. Industrialists support Hitler to suppress communism in Germany. Hitler promises everything to everyone in a series of speeches. Jobs for all, no corruption, no treaty of Versailles, husbands for all women, taxes on industrialists and so on. But above all, he promises to punish the Hebrews, whom he blames for everything wrong in Germany.
A series of elections in 30's fail to produce a result, but Nazi party grows and is the 2nd largest party in Parliament. Army was always aloof from the Republic and wanted to return to the old days of the Monarchy. Hitler gets army support by promising to tear up Versailles treaty. Even without winning the 1932 Presidential election Hitler uses connections in Army & industry to install people opposed to democracy in important posts. Hitler got support from the industrialists who believed that he could be bought, the middle classes supported Hitler as they did not want to go back to the days of Inflation. The poor supported Hitler as they got jobs as his Brown Shirts. Hitler got a lot of power without winning a single election.
Hitler is offered Reich chancellor role as the current one resigns (he was under a lot of pressure since he was a remnant of the Monarchy days) & The Third Reich is born. The people who support his rise to power, believe that Hitler can be controlled. First the communists are hunted down by blaming them for a fire in the Parliament building. Next democracy is shunted down by effectively disarming parliament by concentrating the powers of the Parliament in the Chancellor. Media is put under Nazi control. Non-Nazi books are burned down as Hitler fears the intellectuals. Swastika is adopted as the official Nazi symbol. Trade Unions are totally disbanded, and all their leaders are sent to concentration camps. A labor front is set up, but the labor has no say in it. By 1933, Hitler wanted a European war to expand Germany's borders. But he needed the support of the army who was looking at the events with alarm. The SA was 2 million strong and was doing a good job in controlling the population but would be useless in a modern war.
Hitler made a deal with the army to support him when the current President died, in exchange for disbanding the SA. But he did not reveal his plans to reorganize the SA in SS under Himmler. In June 1934, the SA leadership is killed and disposed. The army support Hitler.
Next, he starts the militarization programs. He builds the highways and prioritizes military production over groceries. Reich President dies & Hitler creates an office combining President, Chancellor & Supreme commander of armed forces for himself. Hebrews including Einstein flee in time before brutality begins in 1935. Laws are enacted to strip the Hebrews of all rights and a national boycott announced on all Hebrew owned shops.
Hitler is companions with Eva Brown; 20 years younger to him after his first wife commits suicide in his flat in Munich in 1931. Not much is known about Hitler's private life. He was the son of a customs official in Austria. Not much is known about his Austrian life. He had low education and did not do well at school. He went to Vienna in 1907 but was rejected by the academy of arts for lack of talent. Loved animals and kids. And liked to be seen as a man of the people.
Hitler then immersed Nazi propaganda in every section of German life & ingrained the notion that individual exists for The State. The art galleries carry pieces of art only approved by Hitler. He glorified the German history of barbarism and enshrined the idea of Aryan supremacy in his SS parades. The German army is turned into a mindless fighting machine that blindly follows the orders of its leader. Nazi ideology gets in schools, universities, churches, courts, culture and arts, agriculture and industry. Women are relegated to kitchen and nursery. The Nazi state permeates every aspect of life from cradle to the grave.
In 1933 Germany walks out of the League of Nations and signs a non-aggression pact with Poland. A naval pact with Britain paves the way for a strong German navy. He makes military service compulsory. In March 1936, Germany occupies some territories in France. Olympics in 1936 are used as a massive propaganda event designed to showcase the supremacy of the Aryan race. When Jesse Owens wins 3 gold medals, Hitler refuses to shake hands with him.
He tries his new military strength by supporting Gen Franco in Spain to conduct a revolution against the incumbent Government. Spain is reduced to rubble in 3 years. Hitler creates an alliance with Mussolini. He invades Austria in March 1938 under pretext of creating peace and democracy. Next is Czech Republic which first Allies carve for appeasing Hitler. British PM Chamberlain convinces French PM in September 1938 to divide Czech Republic and to give Germany what it wants. Czech are not at the table. 6 months later Hitler tears the agreement to annex the whole country.
Apr 1939, Hitler celebrates his 50th birthday. Soviet Union wants to station troops in Poland but fails to reach an understanding with the Western powers. Britain suspects Russian intentions. Soviet German pact, which allows Hitler free hand in Poland. Europe erupts in WWII on 1st Sep 1939 when Germany invades Poland. Mass killings follow for anyone who opposes German rule. Hitler then invades Denmark, Holland, Belgium, Norway, France. Armistice with France is signed at the same point in forest where Germany surrendered in WWI.
Britain is next in September 1940. Germany launches air raids over London but is defeated by RAF, so invasion is postponed with Germany concentrating land forces against the Soviet Union. Italians have lost to Britain in North Africa, and the British Islands are still holding out. So, Hitler has to protect his rear and cannot commit everything to Soviet Russia. The invasion of Russia is postponed by 4 weeks to invade Greece and Yugoslavia, as Mussolini moved without Hitler to invade Greece. Russians retreat but leave behind "Scorched Earth" as Germany takes 20 million prisoners. City of Leningrad resists the invasion & Hitler is 4 weeks behind when winter sets in. The same 4 weeks that it took Hitler to massacre Greece and Yugoslavia.
1941 December Japan attacks US. Germany declares war on US. Germany plunders the occupied territories of food and art. Occupied populations are transferred to Germany to work as forced labor. A vast army of slaves working under hideous conditions for the master race. At its peak there are 7.5 million civilian slave and 2 million POWs. Warsaw is made a Hebrew ghetto. They are given only enough food to keep half of them barely alive. Still the rate of death is too slow to satisfy the Nazi. Extermination camps are set up all over Europe called "the final solution". Human products, bones, hair etc sold by Germans in the best market. German industries set up factories next to the extermination camps to take advantage of the free labor.
In 1942 tide turns as British beat Germans in North Africa. Allied bombs fall on Germany. Resistance grows in occupied lands. When the Hebrew ghetto is Warsaw turns on its tormentors, the German reprisal is swift. The SS burns down the entire ghetto and by the next morning it ceases to exist. 50% of 10 million Hebrews in the occupied territories died during the war. The Germans who resisted were tried in secret and executed. Allied invasion of Normandy in 1944 June. Civilians are trained to use weapons as the armed forces are stretched across 4 fronts. As the enemies get closer, they discover the concentration camps all over the occupied territories and the horrors they are hiding. As Russians get to Berlin, Hitler orders destruction of Germany. May 1, 1945, Hitler commits suicide.
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