20th November 1945 and the Defendants take their place in the dock – 22 of the most senior Nazis, representing each component of Hitler’s machine. But without simultaneous translation the trial will be unworkable – are the interpreters ready? Can they manage 100 words-per-minute? ...Show more
Episode 8 - Who is Truly Guilty?
October 1945 and the trial starts in less than a month – but do the Russians genuinely want it to happen? They seem to be employing delaying tactics – is it because they can also be accused of war crimes? Or is it just another regular SNAFU?Each day brings a new problem: first, t ...Show more
Once the revolution is crushed, Army Intelligence looks around for soldiers who might be able to influence their comrades, steer them away from all this Bolshevik nonsense. And that’s how Corporal Adolf Hitler starts making speeches – it seems he has quite a talent for it. Even h ...Show more
With Franz von Papen now willing to act as Vice Chancellor, alongside Hitler as Chancellor, can he convince Alfred Hugenberg to bring his 51 Nationalist MPs into coalition with the Nazi Party? Von Papen believes that together they will box Hitler in, that they will be “hiring him ...Show more
Hitler has a gift for oratory and party membership is growing: every week he draws a larger crowd. The party formally changes its name to the National Socialist German Workers Party – soon everyone will be calling it Na-Zi for short. But in his speeches, Hitler still reserves his ...Show more
On the first sitting of the new Reichstag, the 107 Nazi Members of Parliament deliberately create chaos. But with the Nazis now the second largest group in Parliament, foreign newspapers have to start taking Hitler seriously – even if he can be hard to pin down. Rarely rising bef ...Show more