The Rise of the Nazi Party (2013)

Country: UK
Years: 2013-2014
Stars: Alex Dee, Lee Neville, Wesley Lloyd

How did Adolf Hitler and his small band of criminal conspirators persuade the German people to follow him into a nightmare of brutality, genocide, and military defeat? This 10-episode documentary chronicles how Hitler and his inner circle rose to power by exploiting the economic turmoil of their time. The National Socialists created an illusion of justice and legality, but behind the scenes they subverted democracy and planned a monstrous secret conspiracy. Their gangster regime used violence and suppression to groom the German people into willing complicity in history’s worst crimes.

Through archival film footage, interviews, and dramatic reconstructions, this series tells the true story of the rise and fall of the Nazis, from Hitler’s recuperation in a hospital bed at the end of World War I to his dramatic final days in a Berlin bunker.


Episodes:

1 The Misfits Gather
Adolf Hitler builds a fringe political group into the Nazi Party; Hitler's men attempt a coup known as the Beer Hall Putsch in November 1923.

2 Becoming Respectable
Hitler is arrested for high treason for his role in the Beer Hall Putsch; Hitler begins writing his political manifesto, "Mein Kampf," while serving time in prison.

3 Seizing Power
Hitler blames unemployment and other economic maladies caused by the Great Depression on Germany's democratic Weimar government.

4 In Power
Hitler wins the hearts and minds of Germans as he plots to rid his country of the Jews; over 1,000 synagogues are burned in the November 1938 attacks known as Kristallnacht.

5 Preparing for War
Hitler summons his generals and reveals his plans to annex Austria and the German-speaking lands in Czechoslovakia.

6 Hitler's Biggest Blunder
The German people begin to see through the facade of the Nazi propaganda machine as the war changes course in 1941.

7 The Final Solution
Hitler and the Nazi Party groom the German people into thinking the genocide of Jewish people was a morally correct decision.

8 Plots and Delusions
Numerous defeats hurt Hitler's image with the German people; two army colonels plot to assassinate Hitler.

9 End Game
Allied armies advance on Berlin in January 1945; the war ends shortly after Hitler's suicide on April 30, 1945.

10 Aftermath
In the closing months of the war, the Allies discover the true scale of the atrocities committed by Nazi Germany.