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GERMAN SINGING

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..with elections, parliament,
and the rule of law.

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Just four years later,

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freedom of speech is over.

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Most of the political opposition
is in jail

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and the government
is in the hands of murderers.

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This is the story
of how democracy died.

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To piece together how it happened,

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historians and experts
have examined those four years,

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each from a different
individual perspective.

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You cajole, you influence,
you...manipulate.

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They'll take us inside the minds
of those that fought fascism...

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They've realised that these people
are after your heads.

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They want to annihilate you
from existence altogether.

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..and the Nazis themselves.

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Himmler genuinely believed that he
would create a racially pure Germany

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where the Aryan race
would reign supreme.

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The moments when history
hung in the balance

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and the world's worst atrocities
could have been prevented.

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Mass murder was no problem.

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But it was important
to be socially acceptable.

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Do people care about the truth?

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There's a black hole
in the heart of Europe.

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Germany, a once-great nation,
is on its knees.

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The people, having endured
years of economic hardship,

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are looking for change.

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But no-one knows what kind of change
they will choose.

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NEWSREEL: Another milestone
is marked

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in Germany's political history.

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The 1930 general election
should have brought clarity.

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But it didn't.

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It's a total mess,

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the vote split between
14 different parties.

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The Communists.

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The Social Democrats.

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The Centre Party is just about able

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to put together a moderate coalition
government, but it's a weak one.

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The only party who are happy,
who make substantial gains,

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are the Nazis.

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Just a few years ago, the Nazis
were violent revolutionaries.

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But their revolution failed...

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..and Hitler was sent to prison.

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But out of that failure,

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Hitler devised a new strategy
for the Nazis -

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to pretend to be
a legitimate political party

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and destroy democracy from within.

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For years, though, they were
seen as the lunatic fringe.

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Until now.

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In 1930,
the Nazis have 18% of the vote...

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MUSIC: Moonlight Sonata
by Beethoven

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..and that captures the interest
of this man.

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Germany's ultimate
political operative -

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a right-wing aristocratic general,

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Kurt von Schleicher.

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It has been noted by many people
that "Schleicher"...

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Schleichen in German
means to sneak, to creep.

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So in English he would be
the creeper or the sneaker,

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which strangely is a very accurate
denomination for what he did...

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..and for what he was.

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If you see politics as a game,

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a schleicher is a master
in the play of power.

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GERMAN SINGING

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Von Schleicher's profession
is to observe...

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..everybody.

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And the Nazis
appear like deus ex machina,

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or like a jack in the box.

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It's something
which was not foreseen,

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it's saying, "We offer you this."

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"Here we are,
and we offer you a part

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"of the German working class
on a silver plate."

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The Nazis have a kind of
street cred.

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And Schleicher is cynical enough

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and he thinks to be clever enough
to say,

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"This is a horse
that we are going to ride."

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Schleicher wants to use the Nazis
to solve a big problem -

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the threat posed
to the aristocratic elite

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from the increasingly powerful
forces of the left.

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So Schleicher cooks up a plan.

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He wants to replace
the current chancellor,

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supported by a moderate coalition,

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with his own right-wing choice.

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But to do this he needs two things -

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the backing of the Nazis
in the Reichstag...

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..and the support of Germany's
head of state.

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The man who has the power
to hire and fire a chancellor.

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So Schleicher has to persuade
President Hindenburg,

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an 82-year-old war hero,

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to work with the Nazis.

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Hindenburg was trying to...

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make sense of this rather chaotic
and complex situation.

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You want the book? Yeah.

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He's not really a politician at all,

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is my reading on his character.

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Soldiering, er,

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particularly in wartime conditions,

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is an exercise -
amongst other things - in command.

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Politics are somewhat different,

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particularly in a democracy.

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And I could see him saying,

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"Oh, God, I wish for the
simplicities of military command."

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Which, of course,
were not open to him.

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He had to do the best he could.

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Others tried to manipulate him,
of course.

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If we look at politics as a game,

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as Schleicher does,

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Hindenburg simply is
what in chess would be the king.

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Everything comes down to
who is close to Hindenburg,

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who is close to the king,
is close to power.

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So Schleicher was one of
the closest persons,

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if not the closest person
to the president,

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is trying to influence

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and to engineer
meeting with the Nazis.

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So Schleicher persuades
the president

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to take a meeting
with Adolf Hitler.

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Neither of them have any idea
who they're dealing with.

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TRAD JAZZ MUSIC

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Hitler is living with his niece,

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Geli Raubal,

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who it's rumoured
he was having sex with.

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Right.

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Yep.

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Hitler was a...a narcissist.

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Obsessed with power.

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Belief that he was a man of destiny.

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And all of these things
grew over time.

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He was increasingly ruthless.

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He was filled with hate,
particularly against the Jews.

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He was, in the end,
a man of violence.

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Hitler's niece Geli is found dead.

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She's shot herself in the chest
with Hitler's revolver.

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There are moments in Hitler's life
when he completely loses control.

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You can think, for example,
of towards the end of his life,

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in the bunker in 1945,

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when he completely goes to pieces.

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And this also happens with the death
of his half-niece, Geli Raubal,

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his girlfriend of the time.

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Not necessarily because he loved her
and he was shocked and so on

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but because he thinks his whole
political career is finished.

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But just as he thinks
it might all be over,

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only three weeks
after her suicide...

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..Schleicher has organized
an audience for Hitler

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with President Hindenburg.

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The key question
is to sell the concept

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that Hitler could be used
to build a right-wing coalition

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which is based on a common hatred

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and on common enemies
that they have.

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For Hitler,
this is a moment when he realises

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that he has arrived.

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He's now become part of
the political game.

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Hitler no doubt
had his own personal feelings.

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But I suspect Hindenburg's
looking down his nose at Hitler.

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Now, mind you, being a somewhat
snobbish dimension to this.

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Von Hindenburg is an aristocrat,

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he is a general,

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indeed, he is the president
of his country.

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Hitler fought in the first war
as a corporal.

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And Hitler's time
in the German army

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was not marked by
any particular distinction.

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He was rather dismissive

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of what he called
"this Austrian corporal".

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Hitler thinks it's gone
pretty well, really.

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He comes away from it thinking
that Hindenburg now knows

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who he is, for one thing,
and that in due course,

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Hindenburg would be prepared
under some circumstances

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to appoint him as Reich-Chancellor.

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Hindenburg concludes
Hitler is best suited

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for the office of postmaster, quote,

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"so that he can lick me from behind
on my stamps," unquote.

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So it wasn't...a very deep
impression that Hitler made.

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This is not how things are.
An upstart.

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Schleicher at this moment
is annoyed.

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"These people are very precious.
We need them."

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We would like to do politics
only with, you know,

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general staff-trained officers
like in the good old times,

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but unfortunately we do live
in a republican democratic reality.

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So Schleicher thinks
if plan A goes wrong,

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you should have a plan B.

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DRUMMING

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GERMAN SINGING

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While Hitler is the leader
of the Nazis' political party,

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they also have a paramilitary wing
called the Stormtroopers.

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These disenfranchised men are used

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to dish out violence on the streets
to their enemies.

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But in a way that the Nazi Party
can deny involvement in.

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All part of Hitler's secret agenda
to wage war

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against the Nazis' political rivals.

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In this too,
Schleicher sees an opportunity.

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Maybe he can persuade Hindenburg
to work with the Nazis

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as a way of harnessing
these Stormtroopers.

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For Schleicher,

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the Stormtroopers
are precious elements,

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as he calls the Stormtroopers,

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because the left-wing insurgency -

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which is communism, socialism,
the unions -

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probably has to be broken
with force

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and these people represent this
force and they have this power.

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The German army
is weak and depleted,

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an issue that the old man
cares about.

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Maybe they could use the
Stormtroopers to bolster the ranks.

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Schleicher definitely knows
which buttons

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to press with Hindenburg.

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Hindenburg regards it
as his duty as president

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to see Germany back
as a great power.

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So Schleicher
is saying to Hindenburg,

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the Nazis, with the Stormtroopers,
represent a fresh start.

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I mean, as a soldier,

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that would have resounded with him
without doubt,

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in my view.

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With the president on board,

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he now needs to persuade Hitler

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to join his right-wing coalition
government as the junior partner.

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Hitler really is not somebody
who's going to enter

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any kind of coalition government
unless he's at its head.

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That would violate
the leadership principle.

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It would kind of undermine
his charisma, his image

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and his self-image
as the man who is in charge.

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So Hitler says no.

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What Hitler wants
is another election,

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in which he hopes
to do even better.

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So Schleicher offers another deal.

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He'll bring elections forward

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on condition Hitler doesn't vote
down his right-wing coalition.

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In this moment he perceives him
as a servant,

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someone who was going to play
a supporting role

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in the system which would be run
by aristocrats like himself.

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He thinks he can somehow
blackmail the Nazis,

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he can put pressure on the Nazis,

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and that sooner or later,
they are going to eat from his hand.

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Whatever he thinks Hitler's
extracted as a condition

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of the support of the Nazis,
that elections should be held,

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Schleicher imagined he was
manipulating Hitler,

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whereas in fact,
it's the other way round.

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So while Schleicher
plots his next chancellor,

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Hitler sets about winning
the hearts and minds

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of the German people.

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He portrayed himself
as a man of the people.

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He wasn't a toff, he wasn't
a member of the elites.

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He was a man who projected himself
as an ordinary bloke,

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as it were, and that, I think,

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managed to unite
many different kinds of people.

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While Hitler's support grows,

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some realise that he's not
the respectable politician he seems.

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And one man tries to prove it
in court.

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GERMAN OPERATIC MUSIC

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Hans Litten is anxious.

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He saw the rise of what he believes

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is going to be
a very dangerous movement.

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Litten is a lawyer who is powered
by the idea that law is important.

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He doesn't see law as
just a set of rules.

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He sees it as being the thing
that will make the difference

251
00:20:39,840 --> 00:20:41,720
in creating a better society -

252
00:20:41,720 --> 00:20:43,920
a foundation,
a rock on which it can be built.

253
00:20:43,920 --> 00:20:47,320
He is talking about human rights
at a time when very few people did.

254
00:20:47,320 --> 00:20:52,320
And he takes on his cases
as though life depended on it.

255
00:20:55,000 --> 00:20:58,280
Litten sees what the Stormtroopers
are doing on the streets.

256
00:21:03,160 --> 00:21:06,240
When they attack a nightclub
full of communists,

257
00:21:06,240 --> 00:21:09,600
dozens are injured,
and four Stormtroopers are charged.

258
00:21:11,200 --> 00:21:12,640
GAVEL BANGS

259
00:21:14,920 --> 00:21:19,360
Litten wants to join the dots
back to the Nazi Party itself.

260
00:21:20,840 --> 00:21:22,880
Hitler is saying
that he believes in law,

261
00:21:22,880 --> 00:21:25,760
he believes in
a rules-based society,

262
00:21:25,760 --> 00:21:30,360
and he would never himself speak
of violence, or using violence.

263
00:21:30,360 --> 00:21:34,800
But Hans Litten, he understood what
fascism was about,

264
00:21:34,800 --> 00:21:36,760
he understood what Nazism
was about.

265
00:21:37,880 --> 00:21:41,280
And so he thinks,
"How do we make this case

266
00:21:41,280 --> 00:21:43,320
"of use in a bigger struggle?"

267
00:21:43,320 --> 00:21:47,600
And he decides that
a summons should be issued

268
00:21:47,600 --> 00:21:49,920
to get Hitler before the court.

269
00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:10,880
When Hitler enters the court,

270
00:22:10,880 --> 00:22:14,840
the Stormtroopers who are on trial
stand up in the dock

271
00:22:14,840 --> 00:22:17,760
and raise their hands
in the Hitler salute.

272
00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:20,280
And they show their dedication
to their leader.

273
00:22:21,520 --> 00:22:27,160
Hitler is absolutely in control.

274
00:22:27,160 --> 00:22:31,640
Hitler went there prepared to say
something very well-rehearsed,

275
00:22:31,640 --> 00:22:35,000
and says that
he had no knowledge at all

276
00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:38,000
of what these Stormtroopers
would do.

277
00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:39,760
This was a rogue group.

278
00:22:44,760 --> 00:22:47,320
How often have we heard
great leaders

279
00:22:47,320 --> 00:22:50,520
saying that somehow
this was an out-of-control group

280
00:22:50,520 --> 00:22:52,840
and that this has nothing
to do with THEM?

281
00:22:52,840 --> 00:22:56,440
And Litten slowly but surely
starts to unpick that.

282
00:22:57,880 --> 00:23:00,920
Hitler is cross-examined
for three hours.

283
00:23:02,120 --> 00:23:04,440
Who are the Stormtroopers?

284
00:23:04,440 --> 00:23:06,640
What is expected of them?

285
00:23:06,640 --> 00:23:08,400
Tell me the truth.

286
00:23:09,760 --> 00:23:12,600
As Hitler continues to deny
Stormtrooper violence

287
00:23:12,600 --> 00:23:16,600
is official Nazi policy,
Litten produces a pamphlet.

288
00:23:18,800 --> 00:23:24,760
It's a quick guide to Nazi ideology
for new Stormtrooper recruits.

289
00:23:24,760 --> 00:23:27,120
In it, there's a line that says

290
00:23:27,120 --> 00:23:30,680
if the Nazis can't come to power
by democratic means...

291
00:23:37,720 --> 00:23:40,080
Litten plays his trump card,

292
00:23:40,080 --> 00:23:43,520
and he presents it to Hitler.

293
00:23:43,520 --> 00:23:45,480
"Look at this.

294
00:23:45,480 --> 00:23:47,920
"You're telling us
you are a democrat?

295
00:23:47,920 --> 00:23:50,240
"That you're running
a democratic party?

296
00:23:50,240 --> 00:23:52,600
"Look what your pamphlets say."

297
00:23:54,960 --> 00:23:57,440
It must have been so exhilarating.

298
00:23:59,560 --> 00:24:01,640
You know, there's nothing
more satisfying than

299
00:24:01,640 --> 00:24:03,720
a good cross-examination,
if you're a lawyer.

300
00:24:03,720 --> 00:24:06,120
SHOUTING IN GERMAN

301
00:24:06,120 --> 00:24:08,960
And then he gets angry.

302
00:24:08,960 --> 00:24:11,880
From this position of
calm leadership,

303
00:24:11,880 --> 00:24:14,560
he becomes the rather frothing man

304
00:24:14,560 --> 00:24:16,680
that we know
he was capable of being.

305
00:24:18,360 --> 00:24:21,760
By keeping at it,
slowly and patiently,

306
00:24:21,760 --> 00:24:24,480
he wore down the veneer.

307
00:24:28,880 --> 00:24:32,160
And although, you know,
this was not about, you know,

308
00:24:32,160 --> 00:24:34,920
a witness saying, "I'm guilty,"

309
00:24:34,920 --> 00:24:39,280
you just know that someone
has been reduced in size.

310
00:24:39,280 --> 00:24:41,280
And I think Hitler was.

311
00:24:46,840 --> 00:24:49,840
A reporter secretly takes
this photograph.

312
00:24:52,560 --> 00:24:56,400
The sense you have
in looking at the photograph...

313
00:24:56,400 --> 00:25:00,160
Hitler knows that his performance
was not good.

314
00:25:00,160 --> 00:25:04,640
That Litten had exposed
to the public

315
00:25:04,640 --> 00:25:07,120
what this man was really like.

316
00:25:09,600 --> 00:25:13,880
Hans Litten, he was exactly the sort
of man who Hitler rather despised.

317
00:25:15,400 --> 00:25:18,440
A Jewish lawyer, a clever man,
an intellectual.

318
00:25:18,440 --> 00:25:22,160
They were traitors. They were tools
of a world Jewish conspiracy.

319
00:25:22,160 --> 00:25:24,160
Vermin, they were less than nothing.

320
00:25:26,200 --> 00:25:29,880
And so it was a great victory
for Litten,

321
00:25:29,880 --> 00:25:33,680
but by God had he made an enemy
in the Fuhrer.

322
00:25:39,160 --> 00:25:41,160
Back in the halls of power,

323
00:25:41,160 --> 00:25:44,880
Schleicher goes to work
to bring down the chancellor.

324
00:25:49,080 --> 00:25:53,760
Schleicher's political game operates
on different levels at once.

325
00:25:57,520 --> 00:25:59,480
He conspires with
the military elite.

326
00:26:03,400 --> 00:26:07,320
He uses his influence with media
and big business.

327
00:26:16,920 --> 00:26:20,200
He spreads gossip to weaken
the chancellor's standing

328
00:26:20,200 --> 00:26:22,000
in political circles...

329
00:26:28,400 --> 00:26:31,520
..telling everyone the Chancellor
has failed to get Germany

330
00:26:31,520 --> 00:26:33,920
out of its political
and economic mess.

331
00:26:36,640 --> 00:26:40,040
And all the while, he continues
to work on Hindenburg...

332
00:26:45,440 --> 00:26:48,360
..the only man
who can fire a chancellor...

333
00:26:54,120 --> 00:26:57,360
..convincing him that to keep
the current chancellor in power

334
00:26:57,360 --> 00:26:59,200
is bad for his reputation.

335
00:27:03,120 --> 00:27:09,000
Schleicher knows about how much
Hindenburg likes his own reputation.

336
00:27:09,000 --> 00:27:12,480
This is another button
that he can push.

337
00:27:12,480 --> 00:27:14,640
The chancellor is a failure,

338
00:27:14,640 --> 00:27:17,520
too much under the spell
of the socialists.

339
00:27:17,520 --> 00:27:19,160
He should go.

340
00:27:21,160 --> 00:27:24,360
Well, I think the evidence is clear,

341
00:27:24,360 --> 00:27:26,600
the chancellor cannot go on.

342
00:27:27,840 --> 00:27:32,360
It could be very important
for the future stability of Germany.

343
00:27:37,160 --> 00:27:39,400
This is Schleicher at his best.

344
00:27:44,440 --> 00:27:46,920
These are ways to rule a country

345
00:27:46,920 --> 00:27:50,320
which are based on conspiracy,
intrigue.

346
00:27:50,320 --> 00:27:53,440
This is not what a republic
is meant to be.

347
00:27:56,280 --> 00:27:59,280
And so within weeks of
his deal with Hitler,

348
00:27:59,280 --> 00:28:02,200
Schleicher has persuaded
the President

349
00:28:02,200 --> 00:28:05,600
to fire the Chancellor
and accept Schleicher's choice

350
00:28:05,600 --> 00:28:08,120
for a new chancellor.

351
00:28:08,120 --> 00:28:10,840
JAUNTY MUSIC PLAYING

352
00:28:24,400 --> 00:28:27,200
What sort of person
is Franz von Papen?

353
00:28:28,280 --> 00:28:30,800
Well, he claims
he's completely surprised

354
00:28:30,800 --> 00:28:33,840
that anyone should imagine him
becoming Chancellor of the Reich.

355
00:28:35,880 --> 00:28:38,560
But on the other hand,
I find that quite hard to believe,

356
00:28:38,560 --> 00:28:41,640
that he hasn't imagined himself
in that position.

357
00:28:41,640 --> 00:28:44,600
You get the impression of
a little bit of a popinjay.

358
00:28:44,600 --> 00:28:47,080
He's always terribly well-dressed.

359
00:28:47,080 --> 00:28:50,080
He always has a flower
in his buttonhole.

360
00:28:50,080 --> 00:28:53,160
He's always immaculately turned out.

361
00:28:54,640 --> 00:28:56,760
And outwardly very charming.

362
00:28:56,760 --> 00:29:00,160
You know, he knew how to play...
in a very Germanic way,

363
00:29:00,160 --> 00:29:03,120
he knew how to play the gentleman,

364
00:29:03,120 --> 00:29:05,520
although he has the reputation
of someone

365
00:29:05,520 --> 00:29:07,360
with a degree of incompetence.

366
00:29:09,720 --> 00:29:12,440
Schleicher, at this point,
is looking for a man

367
00:29:12,440 --> 00:29:15,080
who would basically
do what he tells him to do,

368
00:29:15,080 --> 00:29:17,800
someone that he could manipulate.

369
00:29:17,800 --> 00:29:20,880
Well, if we try to think
with Schleicher's mind

370
00:29:20,880 --> 00:29:24,240
in this moment, this is a very,
very understandable choice.

371
00:29:24,240 --> 00:29:26,800
I would even say
it was a very good choice.

372
00:29:29,200 --> 00:29:33,920
The idea that Papen
is sort of useful idiot

373
00:29:33,920 --> 00:29:37,040
for other people around him
is clearly nonsense.

374
00:29:38,680 --> 00:29:41,080
It's Schleicher's men,
it's Schleicher's cabinet.

375
00:29:41,080 --> 00:29:43,400
It's going to be
Schleicher's politics.

376
00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:48,120
Kurt von Schleicher
thought he could exploit him.

377
00:29:48,120 --> 00:29:51,840
Of course,
the reality is that he is...

378
00:29:53,160 --> 00:29:57,120
..for want of a better word,
prone to subterfuge.

379
00:29:57,120 --> 00:29:59,080
He is cunning.

380
00:30:03,280 --> 00:30:06,560
And because they need
the Nazis' support,

381
00:30:06,560 --> 00:30:10,320
they turn a blind eye to
the Stormtroopers' violence.

382
00:30:15,560 --> 00:30:18,600
GUNSHOTS

383
00:30:35,480 --> 00:30:38,960
I certainly don't get the impression
that Papen is particularly moved

384
00:30:38,960 --> 00:30:41,000
by what's happening on the streets.

385
00:30:41,000 --> 00:30:44,360
You know, he is a man who...

386
00:30:46,120 --> 00:30:49,320
..does not see
the morality of his position.

387
00:30:49,320 --> 00:30:51,280
And as far as he's concerned,

388
00:30:51,280 --> 00:30:54,120
if there's a brawl between the
Nazis and the communists,

389
00:30:54,120 --> 00:30:56,640
the people he wants to lose
in that brawl

390
00:30:56,640 --> 00:30:59,280
will be the communists
and not the Nazis.

391
00:30:59,280 --> 00:31:02,560
For Papen, the Nazis
are the ticket to power.

392
00:31:09,480 --> 00:31:12,880
So Schleicher finally has
what he wants -

393
00:31:12,880 --> 00:31:15,120
a right-wing government,

394
00:31:15,120 --> 00:31:17,760
a malleable chancellor,

395
00:31:17,760 --> 00:31:20,800
and his political opponents
on the run.

396
00:31:22,200 --> 00:31:26,120
The destiny of Germany
is in his hands.

397
00:31:26,120 --> 00:31:29,520
I do think that in this moment
he is...

398
00:31:30,960 --> 00:31:34,440
..full of himself,
and he likes what he does.

399
00:31:34,440 --> 00:31:37,840
And I think he's quite proud
and he feels this is going well.

400
00:31:37,840 --> 00:31:40,520
I think he feels
this is successful.

401
00:31:42,680 --> 00:31:45,520
And where he goes wrong, Schleicher,

402
00:31:45,520 --> 00:31:49,240
is to not see that the Nazis,
and particularly Hitler,

403
00:31:49,240 --> 00:31:51,360
were playing their own game,

404
00:31:51,360 --> 00:31:53,520
and were not going to accept

405
00:31:53,520 --> 00:31:56,440
the rules set out
by General Schleicher.

406
00:32:03,600 --> 00:32:07,440
CHEERING THROUGHOUT

407
00:32:23,360 --> 00:32:26,240
Sieg!
CROWD: Heil!

408
00:33:03,880 --> 00:33:06,440
On Election Day, 1932,

409
00:33:06,440 --> 00:33:08,480
all the key players cast their vote.

410
00:33:10,120 --> 00:33:13,000
Hitler, von Papen,

411
00:33:13,000 --> 00:33:14,880
and President Hindenburg.

412
00:33:28,800 --> 00:33:34,600
Hitler realises that
if he tells a very simple message,

413
00:33:34,600 --> 00:33:37,680
it doesn't matter
if they're true or not.

414
00:33:37,680 --> 00:33:40,600
The point is that you have to keep
repeating them,

415
00:33:40,600 --> 00:33:42,120
keep hammering them in.

416
00:33:42,120 --> 00:33:45,200
Make Germany great again.

417
00:33:45,200 --> 00:33:47,640
Restore the economy.

418
00:33:47,640 --> 00:33:49,840
They are empty slogans,

419
00:33:49,840 --> 00:33:51,960
but they're carrying a message that,

420
00:33:51,960 --> 00:33:54,160
although vague,
is very powerful.

421
00:33:56,960 --> 00:33:58,440
Heil!

422
00:34:14,360 --> 00:34:17,600
Heil! Heil!

423
00:34:37,160 --> 00:34:40,920
The results send shock waves
through Germany.

424
00:34:47,040 --> 00:34:52,040
The Nazis' vote
has gone from 18 to 37%.

425
00:34:55,280 --> 00:34:58,000
Now, with the largest party
in the Reichstag,

426
00:34:58,000 --> 00:35:02,640
suddenly Hitler is too big
for even Schleicher to control.

427
00:35:04,120 --> 00:35:08,400
So Hitler thinks
now's the time to strike.

428
00:35:09,760 --> 00:35:13,800
Now Hitler makes his big move
and demands to be Chancellor.

429
00:35:15,760 --> 00:35:17,920
Schleicher is worried Hitler

430
00:35:17,920 --> 00:35:20,000
is simply not
playing by the rules

431
00:35:20,000 --> 00:35:21,720
that Schleicher has foreseen.

432
00:35:23,400 --> 00:35:24,880
Hitler was a gambler.

433
00:35:24,880 --> 00:35:27,040
As he said, "I always go for broke."

434
00:35:27,040 --> 00:35:29,440
And the more he believed in himself,

435
00:35:29,440 --> 00:35:32,480
the more he was encouraged
by his media followers

436
00:35:32,480 --> 00:35:34,320
to believe in himself,

437
00:35:34,320 --> 00:35:38,520
the more he was disinclined
to compromise.

438
00:35:40,440 --> 00:35:42,600
Talking to Hitler,
which at the beginning

439
00:35:42,600 --> 00:35:44,240
was like talking to a servant,

440
00:35:44,240 --> 00:35:48,400
now becomes talking to someone
who comes with his own claims.

441
00:35:48,400 --> 00:35:53,160
So Schleicher's position
starts to weaken

442
00:35:53,160 --> 00:35:56,560
and things start to become
shaky and slippery.

443
00:35:58,520 --> 00:36:01,160
So Schleicher responds with
an even bigger move.

444
00:36:03,040 --> 00:36:06,400
He knows that
in the German constitution

445
00:36:06,400 --> 00:36:10,680
there is a clause that says
the President can suspend parliament

446
00:36:10,680 --> 00:36:13,720
and rule by presidential decree.

447
00:36:19,560 --> 00:36:23,320
Schleicher and Papen
now persuade Hindenburg

448
00:36:23,320 --> 00:36:27,880
to pull that lever
and exercise his emergency powers.

449
00:36:29,600 --> 00:36:34,000
Hindenburg is rather horrified
by the idea

450
00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:36,800
of Hitler as Chancellor.

451
00:36:36,800 --> 00:36:40,680
The jumped-up little corporal
from somewhere in Austria.

452
00:36:46,840 --> 00:36:49,320
So Chancellor Papen
heads to the Reichstag

453
00:36:49,320 --> 00:36:52,400
with the authority of the president
to suspend Parliament.

454
00:36:54,520 --> 00:36:56,600
He just has to get
the Speaker's attention

455
00:36:56,600 --> 00:36:58,600
and then dissolve the Reichstag.

456
00:36:58,600 --> 00:37:00,840
That is all he needs to do,
in theory.

457
00:37:08,200 --> 00:37:12,040
But there's a new Speaker
who has just been appointed.

458
00:37:16,080 --> 00:37:19,600
Goering is very keen to be
Hitler's fixer...

459
00:37:21,400 --> 00:37:24,480
..because it makes him
an important political figure.

460
00:37:27,040 --> 00:37:29,680
But to be Hitler's fixer
you've got, in the end,

461
00:37:29,680 --> 00:37:31,880
to deliver what Hitler wants.

462
00:37:34,040 --> 00:37:36,520
And in a moment
captured in this photograph...

463
00:37:37,880 --> 00:37:40,400
..when Papen tries to get
the Speaker's attention

464
00:37:40,400 --> 00:37:43,160
to dissolve the Reichstag,

465
00:37:43,160 --> 00:37:45,400
Goering looks the other way,

466
00:37:45,400 --> 00:37:49,720
and instead calls a vote of
no confidence in Papen's government.

467
00:38:08,400 --> 00:38:11,080
Goering looks at them, reads them,
laughs, and says,

468
00:38:11,080 --> 00:38:12,960
"Sorry, your government's finished."

469
00:38:23,880 --> 00:38:26,480
But Papen has no intention
of leaving,

470
00:38:26,480 --> 00:38:29,160
and decides to try
to cling to power.

471
00:38:30,880 --> 00:38:33,960
Papen can rely on certain people.

472
00:38:33,960 --> 00:38:39,160
After all, it is Schleicher
who makes Papen Chancellor.

473
00:38:39,160 --> 00:38:42,200
Papen thought very highly
of Schleicher.

474
00:38:50,160 --> 00:38:57,320
Schleicher is ruthless when
it comes to...political loyalties.

475
00:38:57,320 --> 00:39:00,960
And he has the capacity
to change coalitions,

476
00:39:00,960 --> 00:39:05,080
to change people as other people
would change shoes or socks,

477
00:39:05,080 --> 00:39:08,600
when the situation forces it,
needs it.

478
00:39:11,280 --> 00:39:14,360
He persuades the President
they need a new chancellor.

479
00:39:16,000 --> 00:39:18,320
It is a disaster for us.

480
00:39:19,840 --> 00:39:23,640
Papen is a very stupid man.
And that he simply should go.

481
00:39:25,920 --> 00:39:29,200
So...marching orders.

482
00:39:30,960 --> 00:39:33,600
Which Hindenburg, I suspect,

483
00:39:33,600 --> 00:39:36,040
would have found quite difficult.

484
00:39:39,200 --> 00:39:40,840
But there's one thing Schleicher

485
00:39:40,840 --> 00:39:43,680
hasn't quite factored
into his calculations

486
00:39:43,680 --> 00:39:46,400
that will come back to bite him.

487
00:39:46,400 --> 00:39:49,440
When Hindenburg as President

488
00:39:49,440 --> 00:39:52,920
sacks von Papen as Chancellor,

489
00:39:52,920 --> 00:39:56,960
Hindenburg gives him a photograph.

490
00:39:56,960 --> 00:40:02,120
And the superscription
to the photograph, in German,

491
00:40:02,120 --> 00:40:05,040
"Ich hatt' einen Kameraden."

492
00:40:05,040 --> 00:40:06,920
"I had a comrade."

493
00:40:06,920 --> 00:40:12,000
And I find the use of the past tense
rather poignant there.

494
00:40:13,840 --> 00:40:15,880
It meant an awful lot to Papen,

495
00:40:15,880 --> 00:40:20,280
because it was a gauge
of the sympathy of the President.

496
00:40:20,280 --> 00:40:23,560
That Hindenburg was not entirely
in his heart,

497
00:40:23,560 --> 00:40:25,800
he was not happy
at what had happened.

498
00:40:29,480 --> 00:40:34,760
Of course, everybody could see that
Hindenburg developed an almost...

499
00:40:34,760 --> 00:40:39,200
..romantic feeling of love
for him, for Papen.

500
00:40:39,200 --> 00:40:41,680
I think that's going a little far.

501
00:40:41,680 --> 00:40:45,200
Hindenburg is not that demonstrative
a man in my view.

502
00:40:45,200 --> 00:40:48,200
But certainly a degree of
comradeship.

503
00:40:50,360 --> 00:40:55,080
So despite the fact that
he was sent packing by Hindenburg,

504
00:40:55,080 --> 00:40:57,840
Papen believes that
this is a monstrous betrayal.

505
00:41:00,040 --> 00:41:03,320
And from that moment onwards,
Papen will do anything

506
00:41:03,320 --> 00:41:08,120
in order to bring down Schleicher
and bring himself back to power.

507
00:41:17,640 --> 00:41:21,880
For lawyer Hans Litten, the fight
against the Nazis goes on.

508
00:41:29,800 --> 00:41:33,120
After the case
where he cross-examined Hitler,

509
00:41:33,120 --> 00:41:36,280
he became, you know,
public enemy number one.

510
00:41:36,280 --> 00:41:38,040
It's the classic thing that happens

511
00:41:38,040 --> 00:41:39,920
to somebody who stands up
to be counted.

512
00:41:39,920 --> 00:41:42,200
People distanced themselves
from him,

513
00:41:42,200 --> 00:41:45,640
death threats,
he's viciously assaulted.

514
00:41:48,880 --> 00:41:51,280
Litten is feeling, I think,

515
00:41:51,280 --> 00:41:54,760
what all lawyers feel
when they suddenly find themselves

516
00:41:54,760 --> 00:41:58,720
at the hard end of
society's criticisms.

517
00:42:00,760 --> 00:42:06,400
And yet at the same time, he knows
that this is something that matters.

518
00:42:07,760 --> 00:42:11,000
Despite the harassment,
Litten is winning.

519
00:42:12,280 --> 00:42:14,160
He gets Stormtroopers convicted

520
00:42:14,160 --> 00:42:17,360
for the killing
of a communist activist.

521
00:42:17,360 --> 00:42:20,560
He successfully defends
anti-fascists

522
00:42:20,560 --> 00:42:22,600
against charges of murder.

523
00:42:24,560 --> 00:42:26,760
Litten did enjoy successes.

524
00:42:28,120 --> 00:42:33,120
There is no doubt that Litten
is a thorn in the side of the Nazis.

525
00:42:33,120 --> 00:42:37,760
It's his persistence,
it's his determination,

526
00:42:37,760 --> 00:42:41,160
his sense that he is not
going to give up on this.

527
00:42:41,160 --> 00:42:46,400
He keeps trying to call Nazism
to book through the courts,

528
00:42:46,400 --> 00:42:51,120
because he feels that to succumb
and to quietly skulk off

529
00:42:51,120 --> 00:42:56,440
would be to allow, somehow,
Nazism to win.

530
00:42:56,440 --> 00:42:58,320
And so he keeps going.

531
00:43:00,000 --> 00:43:03,480
Now, Litten's investigations
begin to reveal a conspiracy

532
00:43:03,480 --> 00:43:05,880
between the Nazis and the police.

533
00:43:11,160 --> 00:43:14,680
In one incident, Stormtroopers
clash with anti-fascists

534
00:43:14,680 --> 00:43:17,080
in a neighbourhood called Felseneck.

535
00:43:20,040 --> 00:43:23,760
When a communist called
Fritz Klemke is shot dead,

536
00:43:23,760 --> 00:43:27,640
the Stormtroopers responsible
are brought to trial,

537
00:43:27,640 --> 00:43:29,640
claiming self-defence.

538
00:43:31,480 --> 00:43:34,240
What Litten uncovers is explosive.

539
00:43:35,480 --> 00:43:37,720
A policeman went into a tavern

540
00:43:37,720 --> 00:43:40,800
and deliberately left his gun
on the bar.

541
00:43:40,800 --> 00:43:45,240
A Stormtrooper picked it up,
carried out the murder,

542
00:43:45,240 --> 00:43:48,480
and then slipped it back
to the policeman.

543
00:43:49,960 --> 00:43:55,040
When you have the collusion
of police providing weaponry

544
00:43:55,040 --> 00:43:57,080
and in fact being involved
themselves

545
00:43:57,080 --> 00:43:58,520
in the commission of crime,

546
00:43:58,520 --> 00:44:01,400
bringing that to light
was very important.

547
00:44:11,120 --> 00:44:14,760
Having plotted the removal of
two chancellors in less than a year,

548
00:44:14,760 --> 00:44:18,600
Kurt von Schleicher
feels back in control.

549
00:44:18,600 --> 00:44:22,040
Now, in his boldest move yet,

550
00:44:22,040 --> 00:44:26,800
Schleicher persuades Hindenburg
that the next chancellor

551
00:44:26,800 --> 00:44:29,120
should be himself.

552
00:44:34,440 --> 00:44:36,400
His first objective -

553
00:44:39,320 --> 00:44:42,160
end Hitler's political ambitions.

554
00:44:45,560 --> 00:44:50,920
At this moment, Schleicher starts to
consider different options.

555
00:44:50,920 --> 00:44:56,240
Even plans, it seems, to arrest Nazi
leaders, to strike against them.

556
00:44:56,240 --> 00:44:58,040
So he is considering options.

557
00:44:58,040 --> 00:45:00,400
He's always considering options.

558
00:45:00,400 --> 00:45:03,040
His career, at this point,
requires it.

559
00:45:09,600 --> 00:45:11,360
The fall of Chancellor Papen

560
00:45:11,360 --> 00:45:13,640
coincides with yet another
general election.

561
00:45:15,040 --> 00:45:19,480
And with the German economy picking
up, the Nazi vote falls back.

562
00:45:30,160 --> 00:45:33,320
It looks like Hitler
got close to being Chancellor,

563
00:45:33,320 --> 00:45:34,960
but not close enough.

564
00:45:38,240 --> 00:45:40,200
And years of constant campaigning

565
00:45:40,200 --> 00:45:44,320
has left the Nazi Party
close to bankruptcy.

566
00:45:46,160 --> 00:45:50,120
By late 1932, Goering clearly
feels the Nazi Party

567
00:45:50,120 --> 00:45:53,240
is facing something of a crisis.

568
00:45:53,240 --> 00:45:55,600
He knows that this is a leader

569
00:45:55,600 --> 00:45:59,560
who's stubbornly committed
to becoming Chancellor or nothing.

570
00:46:01,000 --> 00:46:03,200
And for Goering, I think that's,

571
00:46:03,200 --> 00:46:05,880
you know, it's a difficult circle
to square.

572
00:46:05,880 --> 00:46:08,880
And I think there are moments
when Goering is really thinking,

573
00:46:08,880 --> 00:46:11,560
"How the hell
am I going to do this?"

574
00:46:11,560 --> 00:46:15,360
Is Hitler's stubbornness
going to make the party fall apart?

575
00:46:15,360 --> 00:46:18,640
Hitler has always refused
to join any coalition

576
00:46:18,640 --> 00:46:21,360
unless HE is Chancellor.

577
00:46:21,360 --> 00:46:24,080
But many in the Nazi Party
are getting impatient

578
00:46:24,080 --> 00:46:25,840
and want a slice of power.

579
00:46:28,840 --> 00:46:30,360
Schleicher sees this

580
00:46:30,360 --> 00:46:33,080
and offers rebel Nazis
a part in his government,

581
00:46:33,080 --> 00:46:34,680
weakening Hitler further.

582
00:46:36,760 --> 00:46:40,280
So at this moment,
it seems that this is successful.

583
00:46:40,280 --> 00:46:44,360
He feels that he starts
having all the tools in his hand

584
00:46:44,360 --> 00:46:49,120
to open the doors
to the Nazi castle.

585
00:46:49,120 --> 00:46:51,360
And to get into it, or to get...

586
00:46:51,360 --> 00:46:53,440
Actually, he tries to steal
from Hitler.

587
00:46:53,440 --> 00:46:56,760
He tries to get a part
of the support

588
00:46:56,760 --> 00:46:58,960
that Hitler has
from the German people.

589
00:47:04,600 --> 00:47:06,880
By the end of 1932...

590
00:47:09,040 --> 00:47:14,400
..Hitler was at his wits' end
as to what to do.

591
00:47:14,400 --> 00:47:18,320
He didn't seem to be able
to get any more votes.

592
00:47:18,320 --> 00:47:21,880
The Nazis began to run out of money.

593
00:47:21,880 --> 00:47:24,240
People began to desert them.

594
00:47:25,840 --> 00:47:29,040
The Nazi Party is weak,
it's declining,

595
00:47:29,040 --> 00:47:31,440
so there's general feeling
of crisis.

596
00:47:34,440 --> 00:47:38,000
It should have been the beginning
of the end for the Nazi Party.

597
00:47:47,400 --> 00:47:50,600
With his chances of power
slipping away,

598
00:47:50,600 --> 00:47:54,200
Hitler makes
a clandestine journey...

599
00:47:56,960 --> 00:47:59,560
..in a desperate
last throw of the dice.

600
00:48:09,320 --> 00:48:11,880
He definitely looks down on Hitler.

601
00:48:11,880 --> 00:48:15,240
Hitler is another sort of animal,
as far as he's concerned.

602
00:48:16,680 --> 00:48:20,600
Papen is looking at Hitler
to see if this man can be useful

603
00:48:20,600 --> 00:48:23,200
in getting his revenge
against Schleicher.

604
00:48:25,040 --> 00:48:28,840
Papen offers Hitler a deal
to join forces,

605
00:48:28,840 --> 00:48:31,720
using Hitler's
parliamentary strength

606
00:48:31,720 --> 00:48:34,560
and Papen's friendship
with President Hindenburg

607
00:48:34,560 --> 00:48:36,640
to find a way to power.

608
00:48:36,640 --> 00:48:41,080
He sees Hitler as his means
of getting back into power.

609
00:48:41,080 --> 00:48:46,040
Hitler does not represent to him
the ideal form of government.

610
00:48:46,040 --> 00:48:50,160
Franz von Papen finds the ideal
form of government Franz von Papen.

611
00:48:54,080 --> 00:48:58,880
For the first time in his political
career, Hitler makes a compromise.

612
00:49:00,120 --> 00:49:03,320
An agreement is made
that the Nazis and Papen

613
00:49:03,320 --> 00:49:05,720
will form a coalition government.

614
00:49:06,960 --> 00:49:10,000
Compromise wasn't really
in his repertory.

615
00:49:10,000 --> 00:49:13,160
It was either total victory
or total defeat.

616
00:49:13,160 --> 00:49:17,000
But I think he was convinced
that the von Papen deal

617
00:49:17,000 --> 00:49:21,720
would bring the legitimacy with
which he could then take over power.

618
00:49:23,400 --> 00:49:26,440
Between Papen and Hitler,

619
00:49:26,440 --> 00:49:29,600
at least one thing is agreed -

620
00:49:29,600 --> 00:49:32,240
Schleicher must go.

621
00:49:32,240 --> 00:49:35,840
This famous meeting, which is
supposed to be a secret meeting,

622
00:49:35,840 --> 00:49:38,400
but it's not that secret,
because it leaks out immediately

623
00:49:38,400 --> 00:49:40,360
and Schleicher has knowledge of it.

624
00:49:40,360 --> 00:49:42,880
And strangely,
he reacts in a manner

625
00:49:42,880 --> 00:49:45,640
where he does not really
feel threatened by it

626
00:49:45,640 --> 00:49:47,480
and it seems that he even thinks,

627
00:49:47,480 --> 00:49:49,640
"Oh, this is little Franz
doing something for me,

628
00:49:49,640 --> 00:49:51,600
"trying to negotiate with the Nazis

629
00:49:51,600 --> 00:49:53,760
"to bring Nazi support
to my government."

630
00:49:53,760 --> 00:49:55,800
He does not yet understand

631
00:49:55,800 --> 00:49:59,000
to what extent Papen
has turned against him.

632
00:50:07,920 --> 00:50:12,480
Now, Franz von Papen
shows his true colours

633
00:50:12,480 --> 00:50:15,800
as a cunning political player
in his own right...

634
00:50:17,920 --> 00:50:20,640
..using his position
as Hindenburg's new favourite

635
00:50:20,640 --> 00:50:22,400
to present a radical idea.

636
00:50:24,080 --> 00:50:26,480
He should be Vice Chancellor.

637
00:50:27,840 --> 00:50:30,720
And the Chancellor
should be Adolf Hitler.

638
00:50:36,640 --> 00:50:38,520
It's an idea he has

639
00:50:38,520 --> 00:50:42,680
that the only way to destroy
the National Socialists

640
00:50:42,680 --> 00:50:45,160
is to give them a bit of power.

641
00:50:45,160 --> 00:50:47,600
"Let's give them a chance
in government

642
00:50:47,600 --> 00:50:49,600
"to show how dreadful they are,

643
00:50:49,600 --> 00:50:52,160
"and then the people
will lose their interest in them."

644
00:50:52,160 --> 00:50:54,080
These are desperate times,

645
00:50:54,080 --> 00:50:56,720
and desperate schemes
are dreamed up.

646
00:51:02,240 --> 00:51:04,360
The decision rests with Hindenburg.

647
00:51:13,240 --> 00:51:16,400
How is it that Hindenburg,

648
00:51:16,400 --> 00:51:22,640
from his initial, rather lofty
position regarding Hitler -

649
00:51:22,640 --> 00:51:26,240
the upstart, the Austrian corporal -

650
00:51:26,240 --> 00:51:33,320
to contemplating Hitler
as a potential chancellor?

651
00:51:33,320 --> 00:51:35,920
How do you explain the volte face?

652
00:51:35,920 --> 00:51:39,080
It's quite a journey, that one.

653
00:51:39,080 --> 00:51:43,760
Schleicher and von Papen
and "my reputation".

654
00:51:46,640 --> 00:51:48,320
The rise of the Communists.

655
00:51:50,400 --> 00:51:55,840
Eventually, Hindenburg comes to the
conclusion that von Papen is right.

656
00:51:55,840 --> 00:51:58,040
There was no other answer.

657
00:51:58,040 --> 00:52:00,640
He'd run out of options
at this point.

658
00:52:09,080 --> 00:52:10,800
Schleicher is out.

659
00:52:10,800 --> 00:52:13,800
He has no remaining cards to play.

660
00:52:16,080 --> 00:52:22,040
Hindenburg dismisses Schleicher
at the end of January, 1933.

661
00:52:22,040 --> 00:52:25,760
What he says to him
as a last sentence is,

662
00:52:25,760 --> 00:52:31,280
"General, and now let's see
how the hare is going to run

663
00:52:31,280 --> 00:52:32,880
"with God's help."

664
00:52:32,880 --> 00:52:34,920
The hare is Hitler.

665
00:52:41,560 --> 00:52:43,960
The Nazis are close to power.

666
00:52:43,960 --> 00:52:47,240
Hans Litten is starting to realise

667
00:52:47,240 --> 00:52:51,760
that Germany's legal system
is riddled with Nazi sympathisers.

668
00:52:53,560 --> 00:52:57,200
As his case against the police and
the Stormtroopers comes together,

669
00:52:57,200 --> 00:53:00,440
the system begins to shut him down.

670
00:53:02,360 --> 00:53:04,880
Crucial evidence
mysteriously disappears.

671
00:53:06,560 --> 00:53:10,040
The Nazi conspiracy
is wider than Litten realised.

672
00:53:11,400 --> 00:53:14,200
Here we have state collusion
in murder.

673
00:53:14,200 --> 00:53:16,240
He presents it to the judge,

674
00:53:16,240 --> 00:53:18,840
and the judge accuses Litten
of lying.

675
00:53:20,240 --> 00:53:24,880
Hans Litten is seeing how
the rule of law is now a pretence.

676
00:53:24,880 --> 00:53:27,240
It becomes the ultimate evidence
to him

677
00:53:27,240 --> 00:53:30,120
that the whole system
is becoming Nazified.

678
00:53:35,760 --> 00:53:38,520
Berlin's chief prosecutor
informs him that

679
00:53:38,520 --> 00:53:41,680
the case against the Stormtroopers
is being dropped

680
00:53:41,680 --> 00:53:43,240
for lack of evidence.

681
00:53:45,920 --> 00:53:50,000
For Litten, watching this is hell.

682
00:53:50,000 --> 00:53:53,760
He sees that the destruction
of democracy

683
00:53:53,760 --> 00:53:56,000
is taking place before his eyes,

684
00:53:56,000 --> 00:53:59,400
and no-one is stopping it.

685
00:54:02,200 --> 00:54:05,840
CROWD CHEERING

686
00:54:05,840 --> 00:54:09,240
NEWSREEL: An excited crowd gathers
outside the presidential palace on

687
00:54:09,240 --> 00:54:12,160
learning that Hindenburg has sent
for Hitler to form a government.

688
00:54:13,280 --> 00:54:16,320
HE SPEAKS GERMAN

689
00:54:21,520 --> 00:54:25,240
And so Hitler has,
for the first time,

690
00:54:25,240 --> 00:54:27,120
power.

691
00:54:28,480 --> 00:54:32,080
On that evening, Hitler has
this unshakeable self-belief.

692
00:54:32,080 --> 00:54:36,280
One way or another, he is going to
become Germany's dictator.

693
00:54:36,280 --> 00:54:39,360
People like Schleicher, Papen
and Hindenburg

694
00:54:39,360 --> 00:54:44,320
thought that they could use him,
that he'd be easily manipulated.

695
00:54:44,320 --> 00:54:46,520
They were, of course, wrong.

696
00:55:33,120 --> 00:55:36,000
We go back to this time
over and over and again,

697
00:55:36,000 --> 00:55:38,480
because it informs
our current world.

698
00:55:38,480 --> 00:55:41,720
It informs our current world
on a number of planes,

699
00:55:41,720 --> 00:55:44,600
but particularly
it is a warning to us

700
00:55:44,600 --> 00:55:47,560
to prevent things like this
from happening again.

701
00:55:47,560 --> 00:55:52,680
And we ask, why was it
that there were no people around

702
00:55:52,680 --> 00:55:57,760
who could actually prevent
this terrible descent?

703
00:56:03,360 --> 00:56:05,880
Here we are in the '30s.

704
00:56:05,880 --> 00:56:09,720
Violence is taking place
and society becoming divided.

705
00:56:09,720 --> 00:56:13,520
Do people see
what's really happening?

706
00:56:18,120 --> 00:56:22,360
The story of German politics
between 1930 and 1933

707
00:56:22,360 --> 00:56:25,680
is the story of the decline and fall
of a democracy.

708
00:56:28,000 --> 00:56:29,760
And that's why we're so fascinated,

709
00:56:29,760 --> 00:56:31,520
because we know
what happened afterwards.

710
00:56:31,520 --> 00:56:33,920
Germans at the time didn't know
what was going to happen.

711
00:56:33,920 --> 00:56:35,960
But we know now, looking back,

712
00:56:35,960 --> 00:56:38,400
what a terrible turning point
it was.

713
00:56:38,400 --> 00:56:42,280
And of course, democracy
is under challenge and under threat

714
00:56:42,280 --> 00:56:45,080
in many countries at the moment.

715
00:56:45,080 --> 00:56:47,600
We're looking for parallels.

716
00:56:47,600 --> 00:56:49,600
That period does have lessons for us

717
00:56:49,600 --> 00:56:53,640
if we want to preserve and defend
democracy in our own day.

718
00:57:33,920 --> 00:57:36,440
The moment when his murderer
points the gun on him

719
00:57:36,440 --> 00:57:38,920
and asks him,
"Are you General Schleicher?",

720
00:57:38,920 --> 00:57:43,840
he might have realised
that he created a monster.

721
00:57:43,840 --> 00:57:45,920
And whatever was going to come,

722
00:57:45,920 --> 00:57:49,280
it would finish everything
which was there before.

723
00:57:49,280 --> 00:57:51,000
GUNSHOTS

724
00:58:02,080 --> 00:58:06,080
Hitler still doesn't have
supreme power.

725
00:58:07,400 --> 00:58:11,040
4,000 communists arrested
in one night.

726
00:58:11,040 --> 00:58:13,360
Himmler gives a press conference

727
00:58:13,360 --> 00:58:16,000
announcing the opening
of this concentration camp.

728
00:58:18,640 --> 00:58:20,920
What kind of people ARE these?

729
00:58:22,400 --> 00:58:24,520
The camp's in the small town
of Dachau.

730
00:59:16,160 --> 00:59:20,040
It's January 1933

731
00:59:20,040 --> 00:59:22,440
and Germany has a new Chancellor.

732
00:59:26,120 --> 00:59:29,000
He refuses to engage
in the boring day-to-day detail

733
00:59:29,000 --> 00:59:30,520
of running a country.

734
00:59:33,160 --> 00:59:37,080
He has no interest in the opinions
of experts and refuses

735
00:59:37,080 --> 00:59:38,400
to read briefings.

736
00:59:43,680 --> 00:59:47,560
Instead, he tasks his team
with a simple assignment.

737
00:59:51,840 --> 00:59:55,360
Destroy democracy
and make him dictator.

738
01:00:01,560 --> 01:00:05,240
Destroying democracy will take
just six months.

739
01:00:11,960 --> 01:00:17,920
To piece together how it happened,
historians and experts have examined

740
01:00:17,920 --> 01:00:22,000
this period, each from a different
individual perspective.

741
01:00:23,680 --> 01:00:27,200
You cajole, you influence,
you manipulate.

742
01:00:27,200 --> 01:00:32,280
They'll take us inside the minds
of those that fought fascism...

743
01:00:32,280 --> 01:00:34,880
They realised these people
are after your head.

744
01:00:34,880 --> 01:00:38,240
They want to annihilate you
from existence altogether.

745
01:00:38,240 --> 01:00:40,040
..and the Nazis themselves.

746
01:00:40,040 --> 01:00:44,240
Himmler genuinely believed
that he would create a racially pure

747
01:00:44,240 --> 01:00:47,200
Germany, where the Aryan race
would reign supreme.

748
01:00:52,800 --> 01:00:57,400
The moments when history hung
in the balance and the world's worst

749
01:00:57,400 --> 01:01:00,400
atrocities could have
been prevented.

750
01:01:01,600 --> 01:01:03,840
Mass murder was no problem.

751
01:01:06,360 --> 01:01:09,840
But it was important
to be socially acceptable.

752
01:01:19,120 --> 01:01:21,400
Do people care about the truth?

753
01:01:37,920 --> 01:01:40,160
At the start of 1933,

754
01:01:40,160 --> 01:01:43,480
Hitler is the Chancellor of Germany,

755
01:01:43,480 --> 01:01:46,920
the equivalent of Prime Minister.

756
01:01:49,400 --> 01:01:53,080
But he still has a Parliament
beneath him that could block him...

757
01:01:59,760 --> 01:02:02,440
..a head of state
who could fire him...

758
01:02:05,280 --> 01:02:10,360
..and a legal system that could
prosecute the Nazis

759
01:02:10,360 --> 01:02:11,960
if they break the law.

760
01:02:14,360 --> 01:02:19,720
So, Hitler now wants those below him
to dismantle the German state,

761
01:02:19,720 --> 01:02:22,920
pitting senior Nazis
against each other.

762
01:02:33,720 --> 01:02:36,960
Hitler allowed his subordinates
to fight it out amongst themselves,

763
01:02:36,960 --> 01:02:39,800
even encouraged it, because he
believed in a Darwinian principle,

764
01:02:39,800 --> 01:02:42,200
or what he understood
as the Darwinian principle,

765
01:02:42,200 --> 01:02:44,120
of the survival of the fittest.

766
01:02:44,120 --> 01:02:48,840
Hitler's regime was a mass
of competing individuals,

767
01:02:48,840 --> 01:02:52,600
and competing centres of power,
which Hitler deliberately kept

768
01:02:52,600 --> 01:02:54,160
competing with one another.

769
01:02:54,160 --> 01:02:57,360
He believed that if he appointed
three people to do the same job,

770
01:02:57,360 --> 01:03:00,480
the most ruthless, the most Nazi,
the most able one

771
01:03:00,480 --> 01:03:01,760
would come to the top.

772
01:03:23,280 --> 01:03:26,520
Hermann Goring has ambitions
to be a big wheel,

773
01:03:26,520 --> 01:03:28,080
second, perhaps, to Hitler.

774
01:03:28,080 --> 01:03:29,800
He needs to be noticed.

775
01:03:32,240 --> 01:03:35,720
People often ask me,
"You've written a biography

776
01:03:35,720 --> 01:03:38,360
"of Goring, did you ever fall
in love with your subject?"

777
01:03:38,360 --> 01:03:40,560
You know, people who write
biographies generally do.

778
01:03:40,560 --> 01:03:43,080
And I always say, "No, I never fell
in love with my subject."

779
01:03:45,600 --> 01:03:48,400
He's so different from
the other leading Nazis.

780
01:03:48,400 --> 01:03:50,960
You know, he is jovial,
amusing, flamboyant,

781
01:03:50,960 --> 01:03:52,760
likes the good life.

782
01:03:52,760 --> 01:03:55,560
He'll have a good joke, he has
a drink, his picture is often

783
01:03:55,560 --> 01:03:57,600
in popular magazines.

784
01:03:57,600 --> 01:04:00,160
He is the kind of person
who nowadays would invite

785
01:04:00,160 --> 01:04:02,680
Hello Magazine in
to look at his house.

786
01:04:07,720 --> 01:04:09,920
But, on the other hand,

787
01:04:09,920 --> 01:04:13,120
he is callous, brutal, ambitious.

788
01:04:13,120 --> 01:04:16,160
This is a man, who, at the end,

789
01:04:16,160 --> 01:04:19,200
signs the order in July 1941

790
01:04:19,200 --> 01:04:22,400
for the Final Solution
to the Jewish question.

791
01:04:35,160 --> 01:04:38,880
The Nazis' first move
appears democratic.

792
01:04:38,880 --> 01:04:41,880
Hitler calls a general election
to try to get

793
01:04:41,880 --> 01:04:43,720
more seats in Parliament.

794
01:04:45,160 --> 01:04:48,600
Goring sees an opportunity
to impress Hitler

795
01:04:48,600 --> 01:04:50,720
by delivering victory.

796
01:04:54,640 --> 01:04:58,640
But, to do that, he'll need to
take on the Social Democrats

797
01:04:58,640 --> 01:05:00,000
and the Communists.

798
01:05:04,360 --> 01:05:07,840
The Communist leader
is Ernst Thalmann.

799
01:05:12,360 --> 01:05:16,840
Ernst Thalmann is definitely
a charismatic guy and he's a leader

800
01:05:16,840 --> 01:05:19,360
of the German Communist Party,

801
01:05:19,360 --> 01:05:24,360
which was the largest communist
party outside of Soviet Russia.

802
01:05:24,360 --> 01:05:27,360
And he is red as hell.

803
01:05:29,200 --> 01:05:34,800
He speaks to a deep sense
of resentment and anger

804
01:05:34,800 --> 01:05:36,960
amongst the German working classes.

805
01:05:41,800 --> 01:05:45,200
Goring hates Marxism
and everything it represents.

806
01:05:45,200 --> 01:05:47,160
He's a German patriot.

807
01:05:47,160 --> 01:05:52,000
He's very committed to Germany,
with a capital G.

808
01:05:52,000 --> 01:05:55,040
He thinks the left
will destroy Germany,

809
01:05:55,040 --> 01:05:58,480
it will do to Germany what
the Bolsheviks did to Russia.

810
01:06:08,000 --> 01:06:11,440
While the communists are preparing
to fight an election,

811
01:06:11,440 --> 01:06:14,000
Goring has other ideas.

812
01:06:15,560 --> 01:06:18,480
He wants to arrest them
and lock them up.

813
01:06:21,640 --> 01:06:25,760
But to arrest the democratically
elected opposition,

814
01:06:25,760 --> 01:06:29,080
Goring will need
a very good reason.

815
01:06:29,080 --> 01:06:31,280
So, he plays on public fears,

816
01:06:31,280 --> 01:06:34,560
casting the communists
as enemies of the people.

817
01:06:43,120 --> 01:06:47,920
Then he raids the Communist Party
HQ, looking for evidence

818
01:06:47,920 --> 01:06:50,280
of a violent uprising.

819
01:06:53,000 --> 01:06:55,240
Well, of course, they find
plenty of Marxist literature

820
01:06:55,240 --> 01:06:57,320
which is about the revolution.

821
01:06:57,320 --> 01:06:59,640
That's what Marxism is,
it's about having a revolution.

822
01:06:59,640 --> 01:07:03,840
But there isn't any hard and fast
evidence of a Communist coup

823
01:07:03,840 --> 01:07:06,000
or revolutionary plan.

824
01:07:06,960 --> 01:07:08,720
And they don't find the smoking gun.

825
01:07:12,280 --> 01:07:17,840
Even though he'd put in all this
work to demonising communists,

826
01:07:17,840 --> 01:07:20,320
presenting them
as an existential threat,

827
01:07:20,320 --> 01:07:25,800
he can't say he's found evidence
that an armed uprising is imminent.

828
01:07:25,800 --> 01:07:28,960
He's got to say the armed
uprising has started,

829
01:07:28,960 --> 01:07:31,240
and that's where
the Reichstag Fire comes in.

830
01:07:39,360 --> 01:07:42,520
Goring's working late in his
office when, suddenly, people

831
01:07:42,520 --> 01:07:44,880
rush in and tell him,
"The Reichstag's on fire."

832
01:07:59,680 --> 01:08:02,680
Goring gets up and rushes
to the building.

833
01:08:02,680 --> 01:08:05,960
In fact, he tries to enter
the building until he's restrained.

834
01:08:07,800 --> 01:08:10,880
Here's the Reichstag,
where he holds office,

835
01:08:10,880 --> 01:08:13,480
if you like,
is going up in flames.

836
01:08:16,000 --> 01:08:17,840
A photographer captures
Hitler and Goring

837
01:08:17,840 --> 01:08:19,440
after they rush to the scene.

838
01:08:20,720 --> 01:08:24,000
Goring knows this is exactly
the opportunity he needs.

839
01:08:27,040 --> 01:08:30,440
"Communists, they've done this,
I've told you they were going

840
01:08:30,440 --> 01:08:33,720
"to do it. If you wanted proof
of the threat posed by communism,

841
01:08:33,720 --> 01:08:36,160
"here it is,
the flames in front of you."

842
01:08:40,360 --> 01:08:44,560
Hitler finally endorses completely
what it is that Goring is doing.

843
01:08:44,560 --> 01:08:46,120
We're going to wipe out
these vermin.

844
01:08:46,120 --> 01:08:47,760
Communists have had it.

845
01:09:00,680 --> 01:09:04,880
For Goring, it's a moment of
real political excitement.

846
01:09:04,880 --> 01:09:06,600
He makes the most of it.

847
01:09:06,600 --> 01:09:09,520
He is the one who is
going to act, boldly,

848
01:09:09,520 --> 01:09:11,720
decisively, he's going
to be Hitler's fixer.

849
01:09:15,520 --> 01:09:19,760
Goring has the green light to round
up the Nazis' political opponents.

850
01:09:22,400 --> 01:09:25,800
To provide the muscle,
he teams up with the Nazis'

851
01:09:25,800 --> 01:09:28,440
paramilitary wing,
the Storm Troopers.

852
01:09:30,800 --> 01:09:35,160
Commanded by the brawling,
brutal adventurer, Ernst Rohm.

853
01:09:36,680 --> 01:09:39,240
Ernst Rohm was a trained officer.

854
01:09:41,520 --> 01:09:45,240
Very stern and very rough.

855
01:09:45,240 --> 01:09:49,240
Rohm was a ruthless fighter
against democracy.

856
01:09:49,240 --> 01:09:55,160
We have to get rid of this kind
of political system

857
01:09:55,160 --> 01:09:58,640
to fight these, what they called,
inner enemies -

858
01:09:58,640 --> 01:10:00,760
communists, social democrats.

859
01:10:05,680 --> 01:10:07,360
It was quick.

860
01:10:07,360 --> 01:10:09,280
Immediate.

861
01:10:09,280 --> 01:10:12,160
The scale of this operation...

862
01:10:13,320 --> 01:10:15,040
..is insane.

863
01:10:16,680 --> 01:10:20,080
4,000 communists arrested
in one night.

864
01:10:20,080 --> 01:10:22,880
And it was traumatic.

865
01:10:22,880 --> 01:10:27,400
Suddenly, the communists realised
these people are after your heads,

866
01:10:27,400 --> 01:10:32,680
and they don't just want to squeeze
you out of the electoral terrain,

867
01:10:32,680 --> 01:10:36,120
they want to annihilate you
from existence altogether.

868
01:10:37,520 --> 01:10:40,600
For Goring, the violence
he unleashes doesn't seem

869
01:10:40,600 --> 01:10:42,400
to worry him very much.

870
01:10:44,200 --> 01:10:46,160
There's that famous Goring comment,

871
01:10:46,160 --> 01:10:48,440
"You can't make an omelette
without breaking eggs.

872
01:10:51,200 --> 01:10:53,880
You don't have
a normal moral compass.

873
01:10:55,040 --> 01:10:57,480
You know, you can't
do this to people.

874
01:10:57,480 --> 01:10:59,920
He has an inverted moral compass.

875
01:10:59,920 --> 01:11:02,560
What the communists
are doing is wicked,

876
01:11:02,560 --> 01:11:06,280
and what they're doing is restoring
order and protecting Germany.

877
01:11:06,280 --> 01:11:07,640
And that's moral.

878
01:11:10,240 --> 01:11:14,000
Social networks, political networks,
networks of publishing

879
01:11:14,000 --> 01:11:15,680
were evaporated overnight.

880
01:11:15,680 --> 01:11:18,480
Bear in mind, this is all
still happening during

881
01:11:18,480 --> 01:11:20,960
an election campaign.

882
01:11:25,920 --> 01:11:29,160
The next day, the arrests continue.

883
01:11:29,160 --> 01:11:32,320
Hitler moves to make them
appear legal.

884
01:11:34,960 --> 01:11:39,120
He goes to the head of state,
President Hindenburg,

885
01:11:39,120 --> 01:11:42,680
convincing him to sign
the Reichstag Fire Decree.

886
01:11:48,560 --> 01:11:51,160
It gives the Nazis
emergency powers...

887
01:11:56,840 --> 01:12:00,040
..to arrest and imprison
without charge,

888
01:12:00,040 --> 01:12:03,400
to restrict civil liberties,
ban free speech,

889
01:12:03,400 --> 01:12:05,320
and the right to protest.

890
01:12:07,120 --> 01:12:10,600
Within weeks,
over 25,000 arrests made.

891
01:12:12,640 --> 01:12:15,480
Many are beaten and tortured.

892
01:12:18,520 --> 01:12:21,560
Ernst Thalmann escapes.

893
01:12:21,560 --> 01:12:26,240
But one of his comrades
is captured and is tortured,

894
01:12:26,240 --> 01:12:28,600
and his hiding place is given up.

895
01:12:33,680 --> 01:12:36,480
Your leadership is being arrested.

896
01:12:36,480 --> 01:12:40,640
Your active campaigners,
your activists are all being

897
01:12:40,640 --> 01:12:42,920
taken up by the state.

898
01:12:42,920 --> 01:12:44,360
Where do you go?

899
01:12:52,000 --> 01:12:53,800
In a climate of fear,

900
01:12:53,800 --> 01:12:56,920
just under 44% of Germans vote Nazi.

901
01:12:59,360 --> 01:13:01,560
Less than three weeks later,

902
01:13:01,560 --> 01:13:06,080
the Nazis push the Enabling Act
through Parliament,

903
01:13:06,080 --> 01:13:08,880
a law that suspends democracy,

904
01:13:08,880 --> 01:13:10,840
allowing Hitler to govern

905
01:13:10,840 --> 01:13:13,120
without needing approval
from Parliament.

906
01:13:13,120 --> 01:13:16,400
HE SPEAKS IN GERMAN

907
01:13:25,560 --> 01:13:29,600
CHEERING

908
01:13:35,480 --> 01:13:43,400
SINGING OF THE
GERMAN NATIONAL ANTHEM

909
01:14:04,920 --> 01:14:08,320
All this is signed off
by President Hindenburg.

910
01:14:11,960 --> 01:14:17,560
I suspect Hindenburg is feeling
he's getting backed into a corner.

911
01:14:20,000 --> 01:14:22,560
The Reichstag burns,

912
01:14:22,560 --> 01:14:26,680
Hitler is able to persuade
not only Hindenburg,

913
01:14:26,680 --> 01:14:30,560
but a large proportion
of the German population

914
01:14:30,560 --> 01:14:34,840
that this is the first sign
of communist insurrection.

915
01:14:34,840 --> 01:14:37,560
I mean, it was, if you like,

916
01:14:37,560 --> 01:14:42,120
almost the birth certificate
of the Nazi regime,

917
01:14:42,120 --> 01:14:44,160
with all its horrors.

918
01:15:21,480 --> 01:15:25,920
With the Reichstag suspended,
the first laws are passed

919
01:15:25,920 --> 01:15:28,280
to restrict the freedoms of Jews.

920
01:15:32,120 --> 01:15:34,520
A Jewish baker is found dead,

921
01:15:34,520 --> 01:15:37,520
a swastika carved into his chest.

922
01:15:49,160 --> 01:15:51,160
Goring gets his reward.

923
01:15:51,160 --> 01:15:53,240
More power and more prestige.

924
01:15:54,400 --> 01:15:56,680
He is Prussia Minister
of the Interior,

925
01:15:56,680 --> 01:15:58,840
Germany's most powerful state.

926
01:15:58,840 --> 01:16:02,560
He's given control
of the Air Force and becomes master

927
01:16:02,560 --> 01:16:04,480
of the German forests.

928
01:16:04,480 --> 01:16:06,600
He'll get new uniforms,

929
01:16:06,600 --> 01:16:09,400
a country estate and a pet lion.

930
01:16:09,400 --> 01:16:13,320
HE SPEAKS IN GERMAN TO LION

931
01:16:27,600 --> 01:16:30,200
But, whilst Goring has managed to
lock up

932
01:16:30,200 --> 01:16:32,320
the Nazis' political rivals...

933
01:16:34,200 --> 01:16:38,640
..the next step of Germany's
moral dissent is taken by someone

934
01:16:38,640 --> 01:16:40,320
further down the pecking order.

935
01:16:45,200 --> 01:16:47,520
In a regional office in Munich

936
01:16:47,520 --> 01:16:51,320
is the relatively unknown
Heinrich Himmler.

937
01:17:02,520 --> 01:17:06,360
In early 1933, Himmler wants to
cultivate links with Hitler

938
01:17:06,360 --> 01:17:09,240
to get known by Hitler
more and more.

939
01:17:09,240 --> 01:17:11,240
Himmler wants power,

940
01:17:11,240 --> 01:17:12,960
but, in early 1933,

941
01:17:12,960 --> 01:17:16,120
it doesn't look likely at all
that Himmler will ever rise

942
01:17:16,120 --> 01:17:18,200
to the top of the Nazi party.

943
01:17:20,040 --> 01:17:23,280
Himmler looked completely
boring, unmanly.

944
01:17:29,120 --> 01:17:33,960
Uncharismatic, dull, pedantic,
bespectacled nerd.

945
01:17:37,000 --> 01:17:40,080
This photograph is really emblematic
of Himmler's personality

946
01:17:40,080 --> 01:17:44,480
as a really insecure man who feels
that he doesn't have much

947
01:17:44,480 --> 01:17:46,920
of a soldierly, masculine face,

948
01:17:46,920 --> 01:17:49,040
so he needs to cover his chin.

949
01:17:54,280 --> 01:17:57,240
Himmler's view of Goring
was initially quite negative,

950
01:17:57,240 --> 01:18:01,000
because he thought that
Goring was old guard,

951
01:18:01,000 --> 01:18:03,680
that Goring was baroque,

952
01:18:03,680 --> 01:18:06,640
that Goring was the direct rival.

953
01:18:08,120 --> 01:18:12,360
For Goring, Himmler's not somebody
he is yet going to be aware of

954
01:18:12,360 --> 01:18:14,840
as a potential rival or a threat.

955
01:18:14,840 --> 01:18:17,120
He becomes a very big figure,
of course,

956
01:18:17,120 --> 01:18:18,880
later on in the dictatorship.

957
01:18:22,200 --> 01:18:26,520
Himmler is head of the SS,
a paramilitary group of fanatical

958
01:18:26,520 --> 01:18:30,480
Nazis who see themselves
as Hitler's most loyal soldiers.

959
01:18:35,280 --> 01:18:37,760
The black-shirted, jack-booted SS

960
01:18:37,760 --> 01:18:40,640
is very much a product
of Himmler's ideas.

961
01:18:46,480 --> 01:18:49,760
Aryan supremacy, hatred of
parliamentary democracy,

962
01:18:49,760 --> 01:18:52,920
the dispensation of violence
against anyone standing in the way

963
01:18:52,920 --> 01:18:54,280
of the Nazis.

964
01:18:54,280 --> 01:18:55,800
Extreme anti-Semitism.

965
01:18:58,120 --> 01:19:00,320
He was a micro-manager.

966
01:19:00,320 --> 01:19:04,000
SS members had to seek Himmler's
permission if they wanted to marry.

967
01:19:08,600 --> 01:19:12,720
His ambition is to make
the SS the central institution

968
01:19:12,720 --> 01:19:15,960
in Nazi Germany in charge
of political repression.

969
01:19:21,080 --> 01:19:25,880
More conservative Nazis believed
that the best way to control

970
01:19:25,880 --> 01:19:30,640
political opponents was by using
the law to lock them up.

971
01:19:30,640 --> 01:19:33,880
Himmler thought that even more
radical measures were required.

972
01:19:39,600 --> 01:19:41,840
Himmler now follows Goring's lead,

973
01:19:41,840 --> 01:19:45,200
and he uses new laws to start
arresting Nazi opponents.

974
01:19:45,200 --> 01:19:49,480
The instrument Himmler used
was called, euphemistically,

975
01:19:49,480 --> 01:19:51,720
protective police custody.

976
01:19:54,440 --> 01:19:58,840
Protective police custody meant
that prisoners could be locked up

977
01:19:58,840 --> 01:20:03,920
in the hundreds of thousands
over the course of 1933,

978
01:20:03,920 --> 01:20:08,520
without having the chance
to speak to a judge,

979
01:20:08,520 --> 01:20:12,000
without having the chance
to speak to a lawyer.

980
01:20:12,000 --> 01:20:15,880
Himmler used protective police
custody quite indiscriminately

981
01:20:15,880 --> 01:20:20,560
to extend his power,
to extend the power of the SS.

982
01:20:24,000 --> 01:20:27,840
Then Himmler needs somewhere
to put all these prisoners.

983
01:20:27,840 --> 01:20:30,480
And he's found
a solution to that, too.

984
01:20:39,000 --> 01:20:40,840
Himmler gives a press conference.

985
01:20:47,320 --> 01:20:51,000
In his dull voice,
the topic of this press conference

986
01:20:51,000 --> 01:20:54,360
is the opening of a camp
where political prisoners

987
01:20:54,360 --> 01:20:55,680
can be re-educated.

988
01:20:59,640 --> 01:21:03,520
He says that this camp
has a capacity of about 5,000.

989
01:21:03,520 --> 01:21:07,080
He claims that rabble-rousers
who are subverting the power

990
01:21:07,080 --> 01:21:09,360
of the state would be housed there.

991
01:21:09,360 --> 01:21:12,760
Especially communists,
social democrats, trade unionists.

992
01:21:12,760 --> 01:21:15,800
He says that law and order
will reign supreme within this camp.

993
01:21:17,160 --> 01:21:20,040
The camp's in
the small town of Dachau.

994
01:21:29,000 --> 01:21:32,440
Himmler and the SS
are quickly taking control

995
01:21:32,440 --> 01:21:34,640
of Bavaria's justice system.

996
01:21:50,200 --> 01:21:53,600
But right at the bottom
of that system is someone

997
01:21:53,600 --> 01:21:55,200
who is about to fight back.

998
01:22:03,520 --> 01:22:09,640
Josef Hartinger was a 39-year-old
deputy prosecutor.

999
01:22:09,640 --> 01:22:13,320
Part of this generation
that was going to make

1000
01:22:13,320 --> 01:22:16,280
a strong, democratic Germany.

1001
01:22:18,520 --> 01:22:24,680
People talk about Oskar Schindler,
he saved 1,000 lives.

1002
01:22:24,680 --> 01:22:28,000
And if there'd been 1,000 people
like Schindler,

1003
01:22:28,000 --> 01:22:30,400
there never would have been
a Holocaust.

1004
01:22:30,400 --> 01:22:36,960
Well, had there been 100 people
like Josef Hartinger,

1005
01:22:36,960 --> 01:22:39,440
not only would there not have been
a Holocaust,

1006
01:22:39,440 --> 01:22:41,800
there may not have been
a Third Reich.

1007
01:22:55,400 --> 01:22:59,400
Hartinger is sitting at his desk,
shortly after 9:00 in the morning.

1008
01:22:59,400 --> 01:23:01,120
His phone rings.

1009
01:23:01,120 --> 01:23:05,160
There's a call from
the concentration camp in Dachau,

1010
01:23:05,160 --> 01:23:09,920
that four detainees have been shot
trying to escape.

1011
01:23:24,240 --> 01:23:28,440
Under Germany's criminal code,
it is Hartinger's job

1012
01:23:28,440 --> 01:23:31,480
as deputy state prosecutor
to investigate the deaths.

1013
01:23:36,600 --> 01:23:38,720
So, he sets off to Dachau,

1014
01:23:38,720 --> 01:23:42,680
with medical examiner, Moritz Flamm.

1015
01:23:45,040 --> 01:23:49,160
Hartinger knows there's
a detention centre there.

1016
01:23:49,160 --> 01:23:51,400
The fact that someone tried
to escape is certainly

1017
01:23:51,400 --> 01:23:53,120
a possibility.

1018
01:23:53,120 --> 01:23:56,880
But he's not going to
assume anything, let's see

1019
01:23:56,880 --> 01:23:59,040
what it looks like
when we get there.

1020
01:24:09,560 --> 01:24:13,320
There's a big wall there
with an iron gate

1021
01:24:13,320 --> 01:24:15,640
in front of it.

1022
01:24:15,640 --> 01:24:18,880
He sees several Storm Troopers,

1023
01:24:18,880 --> 01:24:22,000
these brown uniforms,

1024
01:24:22,000 --> 01:24:24,720
with black SS kepis on.

1025
01:24:26,480 --> 01:24:28,360
And firearms.

1026
01:24:31,040 --> 01:24:33,480
What he doesn't see
is actually more important.

1027
01:24:38,480 --> 01:24:41,560
He doesn't see any Bavarian police.

1028
01:24:41,560 --> 01:24:47,040
They wear these green uniforms,
and the SS had been assigned

1029
01:24:47,040 --> 01:24:50,200
as auxiliaries
to the Bavarian police.

1030
01:24:50,200 --> 01:24:53,960
So, SS men there, but no police.

1031
01:25:01,640 --> 01:25:04,880
The camp itself is a former
munitions facility,

1032
01:25:04,880 --> 01:25:08,160
overgrown, boarded up buildings.

1033
01:25:08,160 --> 01:25:09,400
Fairly desolate.

1034
01:25:17,280 --> 01:25:22,320
And he sees these prisoners
being marched around in groups.

1035
01:25:30,080 --> 01:25:36,040
They drive up to
the commandant's headquarters,

1036
01:25:36,040 --> 01:25:38,400
and the camp commandant is there.

1037
01:25:39,600 --> 01:25:44,480
Wackerle, he's a poster boy SS man.

1038
01:25:44,480 --> 01:25:49,480
Blonde-haired, blue-eyed,
black uniform, shiny boots.

1039
01:25:54,000 --> 01:25:58,560
And here you have Josef Hartinger,
this slightly paunchy,

1040
01:25:58,560 --> 01:26:00,400
middle-aged, balding guy.

1041
01:26:06,160 --> 01:26:09,320
The commandant leads
Hartinger and Flamm

1042
01:26:09,320 --> 01:26:11,360
to where the prisoners died.

1043
01:26:14,400 --> 01:26:18,400
He explains that the four men
were on a work detail,

1044
01:26:18,400 --> 01:26:21,800
but they tried to escape,
running for the trees.

1045
01:26:30,560 --> 01:26:32,400
They were shot from a distance

1046
01:26:32,400 --> 01:26:34,720
after ignoring the guards'
commands to stop.

1047
01:26:50,960 --> 01:26:56,240
He's taken to a shed,
where the bodies have simply

1048
01:26:56,240 --> 01:27:00,840
been thrown on the ground
like slaughtered animals.

1049
01:27:23,000 --> 01:27:25,480
And Hartinger looks at this
and just says...

1050
01:27:28,240 --> 01:27:31,760
.."This is not the way
you treat a human being."

1051
01:27:42,480 --> 01:27:47,440
What kind of people are these,
that would do this to someone?

1052
01:28:00,640 --> 01:28:04,680
Hartinger and Flamm,
as they are going back,

1053
01:28:04,680 --> 01:28:08,560
are kind of reviewing
everything that was there.

1054
01:28:08,560 --> 01:28:11,440
The treatment of these three bodies,

1055
01:28:11,440 --> 01:28:13,720
of these dead young people,

1056
01:28:13,720 --> 01:28:16,080
Wackerle himself.

1057
01:28:19,440 --> 01:28:23,120
And, then, as Hartinger said
was most troubling of all,

1058
01:28:23,120 --> 01:28:29,680
he said, "How is it that all four
of these men were Jews?"

1059
01:28:35,000 --> 01:28:38,000
And he says, "There is
something very wrong here.

1060
01:28:40,720 --> 01:28:42,320
"And we are going to fix it.

1061
01:28:42,320 --> 01:28:44,320
"We will set this right."

1062
01:28:48,680 --> 01:28:53,280
Hartinger vows to bring murder
charges against the Dachau SS.

1063
01:29:00,360 --> 01:29:02,880
But this means
going up against Himmler,

1064
01:29:02,880 --> 01:29:05,920
just as his power is growing.

1065
01:29:05,920 --> 01:29:10,600
Because, for Himmler,
Dachau is only the beginning.

1066
01:29:10,600 --> 01:29:15,200
And he's slowly bringing every state
in Germany under SS control.

1067
01:29:19,640 --> 01:29:23,320
Himmler takes up a considerable
amount of his time to travel,

1068
01:29:23,320 --> 01:29:24,920
to schmooze.

1069
01:29:25,960 --> 01:29:28,040
He knew how to flatter them.

1070
01:29:28,040 --> 01:29:32,440
He would talk in a soft voice,
he would appear polite.

1071
01:29:34,080 --> 01:29:37,440
He offers them an honorary rank
in the SS, which gave them the right

1072
01:29:37,440 --> 01:29:40,560
to wear a smart SS uniform.

1073
01:29:40,560 --> 01:29:44,000
Many Nazi and state leaders
at that time are extremely vain,

1074
01:29:44,000 --> 01:29:47,240
so, they are more than pleased
when someone like Himmler makes them

1075
01:29:47,240 --> 01:29:51,000
an honorary member of what is
turning out to be the elite corps

1076
01:29:51,000 --> 01:29:54,280
of the National Socialist state.

1077
01:29:54,280 --> 01:29:59,040
He would place people into his debt
by giving them expensive gifts.

1078
01:30:15,320 --> 01:30:19,600
To win people over for his cause,
he believed that he had to be

1079
01:30:19,600 --> 01:30:21,120
a decent human being.

1080
01:30:22,120 --> 01:30:26,480
Being decent meant, for example,
to kiss the hand of a woman.

1081
01:30:27,760 --> 01:30:33,000
But being decent could also mean
the mass murder of millions of Jews.

1082
01:30:33,000 --> 01:30:35,880
Himmler is extremely methodical...

1083
01:30:35,880 --> 01:30:37,440
..calculating...

1084
01:30:40,280 --> 01:30:42,720
..and patient.

1085
01:30:52,280 --> 01:30:57,360
Himmler is amassing a police empire
controlled by the SS...

1086
01:30:59,200 --> 01:31:02,360
..turning the SS into one of
the most powerful institutions

1087
01:31:02,360 --> 01:31:03,640
in the Nazi state.

1088
01:31:14,200 --> 01:31:18,000
At Dachau, Hartinger is doing
some detective work.

1089
01:31:21,760 --> 01:31:26,200
Examining the bodies,
he discovers the prisoners were shot

1090
01:31:26,200 --> 01:31:28,600
in the back of the head.

1091
01:31:28,600 --> 01:31:32,440
It's clear the men have been
systematically murdered

1092
01:31:32,440 --> 01:31:34,000
because they are Jews.

1093
01:31:37,560 --> 01:31:42,800
Dr Flamm looks at Wackerle
and he says,

1094
01:31:42,800 --> 01:31:46,960
"Your guards are very good shots
with their pistols."

1095
01:31:48,120 --> 01:31:51,120
And Hartinger expands his inquiries,

1096
01:31:51,120 --> 01:31:54,040
investigating reported suicides,

1097
01:31:54,040 --> 01:31:57,480
and other failed escape attempts
at Dachau.

1098
01:32:00,880 --> 01:32:04,720
Hartinger and Flamm keep driving
back out to Dachau,

1099
01:32:04,720 --> 01:32:06,440
collecting evidence...

1100
01:32:08,480 --> 01:32:12,960
..taking depositions in
a very careful, methodical way.

1101
01:32:14,280 --> 01:32:18,240
Forensic details, name, age,

1102
01:32:18,240 --> 01:32:21,920
profession, the SS men responsible.

1103
01:32:23,600 --> 01:32:27,400
Hartinger said,
"I could see the hatred

1104
01:32:27,400 --> 01:32:30,800
"in the SS officers' eyes."

1105
01:32:33,000 --> 01:32:37,480
One of the detainees allegedly
had committed suicide

1106
01:32:37,480 --> 01:32:39,160
by hanging himself.

1107
01:32:44,080 --> 01:32:46,960
But when Flamm does the autopsy,

1108
01:32:46,960 --> 01:32:51,920
it turns out that the man
in fact had been beaten to death

1109
01:32:51,920 --> 01:32:54,760
and then his corpse was hanged.

1110
01:33:04,840 --> 01:33:11,840
Another one, the SS guard had shot
allegedly from eight to ten metres.

1111
01:33:11,840 --> 01:33:15,520
But, when Flamm
conducts the autopsy,

1112
01:33:15,520 --> 01:33:19,240
it turns out he had been shot
point-blank.

1113
01:33:21,680 --> 01:33:23,400
This is late May.

1114
01:33:24,720 --> 01:33:27,680
He finally has two cases

1115
01:33:27,680 --> 01:33:30,520
that can demonstrate

1116
01:33:30,520 --> 01:33:33,120
that these people were murdered.

1117
01:33:36,720 --> 01:33:39,480
Hartinger has the evidence
to implicate

1118
01:33:39,480 --> 01:33:42,120
the Commandant of Dachau
in the murders.

1119
01:33:44,920 --> 01:33:47,680
Charges that could ruin
Himmler's plans.

1120
01:33:48,880 --> 01:33:54,680
But it's more than trying to bring
a single SS man to justice.

1121
01:33:57,800 --> 01:34:03,840
He knows Wackerle
is ordering these killings,

1122
01:34:03,840 --> 01:34:09,280
but Wackerle is ultimately
a deputy of Heinrich Himmler.

1123
01:34:09,280 --> 01:34:14,720
And I think Hartinger is out
to indict the entire system.

1124
01:34:17,720 --> 01:34:20,880
Himmler's fear is that
investigations by the legal system,

1125
01:34:20,880 --> 01:34:25,040
by state prosecutors, will reveal
the horrific truth about Dachau.

1126
01:34:25,040 --> 01:34:28,040
That Dachau is not a camp
where political prisoners

1127
01:34:28,040 --> 01:34:31,080
are being detained,
are being re-educated,

1128
01:34:31,080 --> 01:34:35,160
that Dachau is a place of murder,
that Dachau is a place of savage

1129
01:34:35,160 --> 01:34:38,240
brutality and murderous violence.

1130
01:34:38,240 --> 01:34:39,920
This is Himmler's fear.

1131
01:34:41,400 --> 01:34:44,240
Now Hartinger takes
the file to his boss.

1132
01:34:54,560 --> 01:35:01,280
"I finally have everything we need,
the indictments are ready to sign."

1133
01:35:03,840 --> 01:35:06,400
And his boss
looks at him and says...

1134
01:35:08,080 --> 01:35:09,440
.."I'm not signing.

1135
01:35:14,240 --> 01:35:17,360
"I'm not signing anything."

1136
01:35:17,360 --> 01:35:19,680
And Hartinger's just stunned.

1137
01:35:25,520 --> 01:35:28,320
Hartinger's boss,
the senior prosecutor...

1138
01:35:29,960 --> 01:35:31,960
..is under Himmler's spell.

1139
01:35:35,280 --> 01:35:40,320
Hartinger, at that moment,
is left with a choice.

1140
01:35:40,320 --> 01:35:45,200
He has a wife and a five-year-old
daughter, he has his whole career

1141
01:35:45,200 --> 01:35:49,840
ahead of him by simply
doing what his boss says.

1142
01:35:49,840 --> 01:35:52,120
This is over.

1143
01:35:52,120 --> 01:35:54,000
Step back from it.

1144
01:35:57,640 --> 01:36:01,360
He knows what's right,
and he knows what's wrong.

1145
01:36:01,360 --> 01:36:04,280
And that's what actually
matters to him.

1146
01:36:04,280 --> 01:36:06,320
And he goes back to his office...

1147
01:36:11,600 --> 01:36:14,040
..and he starts writing.

1148
01:36:39,640 --> 01:36:41,840
It's an astonishing act.

1149
01:36:41,840 --> 01:36:47,160
And, at that moment, Hartinger is
truly alone in the world.

1150
01:36:49,640 --> 01:36:53,800
Hartinger's file is taken
to the investigating judge.

1151
01:36:57,920 --> 01:37:01,560
And it goes up the chain
to the Governor of Bavaria.

1152
01:37:07,640 --> 01:37:12,520
But, at the same time,
Hartinger's boss tips off Himmler

1153
01:37:12,520 --> 01:37:14,120
about what's going on.

1154
01:37:20,280 --> 01:37:24,080
Himmler is presented with evidence
that Josef Hartinger has filed

1155
01:37:24,080 --> 01:37:26,880
investigations against
Dachau SS guards.

1156
01:37:28,040 --> 01:37:31,080
If news of the murders
at Dachau break,

1157
01:37:31,080 --> 01:37:33,840
Himmler is facing a huge problem.

1158
01:37:33,840 --> 01:37:36,960
The SS does not have the right,
under German law,

1159
01:37:36,960 --> 01:37:39,360
to kill political opponents.

1160
01:37:40,560 --> 01:37:44,920
So, Himmler needs to find a strategy
to ensure that these legal

1161
01:37:44,920 --> 01:37:47,680
investigations do not go anywhere.

1162
01:37:50,680 --> 01:37:54,800
The investigations started
by Hartinger seem like a threat

1163
01:37:54,800 --> 01:38:01,040
to the SS, as its power base
is rapidly increasing,

1164
01:38:01,040 --> 01:38:03,320
not only in Bavaria,
but also across Germany.

1165
01:38:08,440 --> 01:38:11,360
Himmler has to react rather swiftly.

1166
01:38:11,360 --> 01:38:14,760
He must try even harder to give
the concentration camps

1167
01:38:14,760 --> 01:38:17,880
under SS control
an even stronger legal veneer.

1168
01:38:19,560 --> 01:38:22,440
As Hartinger's file heads
up the chain of command,

1169
01:38:22,440 --> 01:38:25,440
Himmler tries to fix the problem.

1170
01:39:00,640 --> 01:39:03,040
Films like this one
make people believe

1171
01:39:03,040 --> 01:39:05,760
that concentration camps
are humanely run.

1172
01:39:10,520 --> 01:39:15,080
Whilst, in secret, the SS
finds more elaborate ways

1173
01:39:15,080 --> 01:39:16,720
to cover up new murders.

1174
01:39:23,080 --> 01:39:27,440
And Dachau's commandant,
Wackerle, is fired.

1175
01:39:34,360 --> 01:39:37,480
Hartinger's file
goes all the way to Berlin.

1176
01:39:45,480 --> 01:39:49,760
Those at the top of the justice
system can see that what's happening

1177
01:39:49,760 --> 01:39:51,600
at Dachau is illegal.

1178
01:39:54,640 --> 01:40:01,520
The astonishing thing is Hartinger
expects that he could be killed.

1179
01:40:02,680 --> 01:40:04,320
And he isn't.

1180
01:40:04,320 --> 01:40:09,320
More astonishing is that
the killings stop in Dachau

1181
01:40:09,320 --> 01:40:12,000
for the entire month of June,

1182
01:40:12,000 --> 01:40:14,120
for the entire month of July.

1183
01:40:18,000 --> 01:40:20,640
So, Hartinger, at that point,

1184
01:40:20,640 --> 01:40:24,360
assumes that he actually
has scored a victory.

1185
01:40:24,360 --> 01:40:26,080
He's won this.

1186
01:40:26,080 --> 01:40:28,960
It was this fight between him
and the Commandant,

1187
01:40:28,960 --> 01:40:31,600
between the power of the Nazis

1188
01:40:31,600 --> 01:40:33,840
and the power of the law,

1189
01:40:33,840 --> 01:40:38,720
and, ultimately,
Hartinger won that battle.

1190
01:40:40,960 --> 01:40:44,160
Thanks to Hartinger,
German law has a chance

1191
01:40:44,160 --> 01:40:45,600
to shut down Dachau.

1192
01:40:51,120 --> 01:40:54,040
But Himmler has one more
lever to pull.

1193
01:41:12,040 --> 01:41:14,280
Hitler is not someone
who is accustomed

1194
01:41:14,280 --> 01:41:16,840
to regular habits at work.

1195
01:41:16,840 --> 01:41:21,200
He doesn't have a systematic
manner of governing.

1196
01:41:24,400 --> 01:41:28,880
Lunch was often served with a delay
of two hours because the Nazi leader

1197
01:41:28,880 --> 01:41:30,880
had got out of bed so late.

1198
01:41:33,720 --> 01:41:36,480
It would have been, I think,
pretty boring to be in his company.

1199
01:41:36,480 --> 01:41:40,400
Because he just went on, and on,
and on, in endless monologues.

1200
01:41:43,920 --> 01:41:48,480
Hitler didn't like bureaucratic
detail, to read too many files.

1201
01:41:52,840 --> 01:41:55,080
Hitler thought he was above the law.

1202
01:41:55,080 --> 01:41:59,880
The law was a series of artificial
restrictions on his freedom

1203
01:41:59,880 --> 01:42:02,440
of action, on behalf of Germany.

1204
01:42:02,440 --> 01:42:05,600
He was expressing
the soul and the inner wishes

1205
01:42:05,600 --> 01:42:07,280
of the German people.

1206
01:42:07,280 --> 01:42:09,320
Of course, as defined by himself.

1207
01:42:13,000 --> 01:42:17,840
Himmler found out very quickly
how to read Hitler's personality,

1208
01:42:17,840 --> 01:42:21,120
how to please Hitler,
how to work with Hitler.

1209
01:42:25,440 --> 01:42:28,720
Himmler would have very rarely dared
to interrupt Hitler.

1210
01:42:33,880 --> 01:42:36,520
And, then, towards the end
of their conversations,

1211
01:42:36,520 --> 01:42:39,560
which weren't really conversations
but monologues by Hitler talking

1212
01:42:39,560 --> 01:42:42,000
at Himmler, Himmler would
have made a proposal.

1213
01:42:44,040 --> 01:42:46,920
Himmler knows exactly which button
to push with Hitler.

1214
01:42:46,920 --> 01:42:50,960
Himmler, cleverly,
exploits Hitler's dislike

1215
01:42:50,960 --> 01:42:54,680
for the judiciary,
disregard for legal norms

1216
01:42:54,680 --> 01:42:58,080
and values, legal constraints
on Nazi power.

1217
01:42:59,480 --> 01:43:03,800
Himmler also knows that Hitler
lives in fear of assassination,

1218
01:43:03,800 --> 01:43:07,200
even convinced his kitchen staff
is trying to poison him.

1219
01:43:09,360 --> 01:43:11,760
Sensing an opportunity
to impress Hitler,

1220
01:43:11,760 --> 01:43:15,360
Himmler provides him with
hand-picked SS men to act

1221
01:43:15,360 --> 01:43:18,000
as a personal bodyguard,

1222
01:43:18,000 --> 01:43:22,640
showing Hitler there is now one man
and one organisation

1223
01:43:22,640 --> 01:43:26,480
above all others that he can trust
without question.

1224
01:43:26,480 --> 01:43:30,760
Himmler's main characteristic
was his unconditional

1225
01:43:30,760 --> 01:43:32,600
loyalty to Hitler.

1226
01:43:32,600 --> 01:43:34,560
Remember, he's a very young man.

1227
01:43:34,560 --> 01:43:37,880
He's only in his early 30s
when the Nazis come to power.

1228
01:43:37,880 --> 01:43:43,160
And Hitler used to refer
to Heinrich Himmler

1229
01:43:43,160 --> 01:43:46,480
as "the loyal Heinrich,"
"der treue Heinrich."

1230
01:43:48,160 --> 01:43:52,520
He ran the SS as an organisation
that was well structured

1231
01:43:52,520 --> 01:43:54,160
and well set up.

1232
01:43:54,160 --> 01:43:56,480
And this got the approval of Hitler.

1233
01:43:56,480 --> 01:44:00,680
He was very much inclined to give
Himmler what he wanted.

1234
01:44:03,440 --> 01:44:09,160
Himmler managed to persuade Hitler
to make sure that no SS member

1235
01:44:09,160 --> 01:44:13,840
would end up behind prison bars
for torturing and killing

1236
01:44:13,840 --> 01:44:15,840
prisoners at Dachau.

1237
01:44:15,840 --> 01:44:18,720
And to block the legal
investigations.

1238
01:44:23,000 --> 01:44:27,160
Hartinger, his plan
has been compromised.

1239
01:44:27,160 --> 01:44:31,000
All the evidence
that he has collected,

1240
01:44:31,000 --> 01:44:35,200
the forensic reports,
eyewitness testimony,

1241
01:44:35,200 --> 01:44:37,560
the deposition.

1242
01:44:40,960 --> 01:44:44,520
All of this evidence
is in the hands of the Nazis.

1243
01:44:51,320 --> 01:44:53,440
And Hartinger's lost all of it.

1244
01:44:56,200 --> 01:44:59,400
It ends up in Munich,
they don't know what to do with it,

1245
01:44:59,400 --> 01:45:04,800
so, the head Nazi there literally
just opens his desk drawer,

1246
01:45:04,800 --> 01:45:09,280
puts the files in there,
closes it and locks it.

1247
01:45:12,200 --> 01:45:14,200
And that was that.

1248
01:45:17,800 --> 01:45:21,800
At Dachau, the killing of Jewish
prisoners starts up again.

1249
01:45:21,800 --> 01:45:25,720
Except, now, no-one complains.

1250
01:45:25,720 --> 01:45:28,480
German law is becoming meaningless.

1251
01:45:30,600 --> 01:45:35,080
By managing the crisis
created by the Dachau murders,

1252
01:45:35,080 --> 01:45:39,000
Himmler proves himself to be
an extremely skilful operator.

1253
01:45:39,000 --> 01:45:44,680
He proves himself to be a brilliant
Nazi, as perverse as this may sound,

1254
01:45:44,680 --> 01:45:48,520
and Hitler is almost certainly
impressed by this.

1255
01:45:48,520 --> 01:45:53,360
Now Himmler and the SS feel
emboldened to use utmost violence

1256
01:45:53,360 --> 01:45:56,240
to kill concentration camp
prisoners.

1257
01:45:56,240 --> 01:45:59,960
Himmler and the SS know that what
they are doing is not legal

1258
01:45:59,960 --> 01:46:03,040
under the prevailing
German criminal code.

1259
01:46:03,040 --> 01:46:06,880
But the ultimate source of the law
for Himmler and the SS,

1260
01:46:06,880 --> 01:46:09,680
what is right,
what is wrong, is Hitler.

1261
01:46:47,320 --> 01:46:50,000
The Nazis are transforming
German life.

1262
01:46:51,840 --> 01:46:54,600
Women are encouraged
to abandon their careers

1263
01:46:54,600 --> 01:46:56,600
and become mothers and housewives.

1264
01:46:58,680 --> 01:47:02,280
Newspapers can no longer
criticise the government.

1265
01:47:08,840 --> 01:47:13,520
A new ministry for propaganda sells
Hitler's vision to the public.

1266
01:47:19,320 --> 01:47:22,760
Meanwhile, Himmler is now
at top table.

1267
01:47:27,120 --> 01:47:29,280
And not everyone
appreciates his rise.

1268
01:47:31,480 --> 01:47:33,840
For Goring, Himmler
suddenly becomes a figure

1269
01:47:33,840 --> 01:47:36,000
that has to be taken seriously.

1270
01:47:36,000 --> 01:47:39,200
And, so, he's got to be
pretty wary of Himmler.

1271
01:47:41,200 --> 01:47:44,120
Goring's grip may well
be under threat.

1272
01:47:48,040 --> 01:47:51,080
But Goring is making
some moves of his own,

1273
01:47:51,080 --> 01:47:54,440
designed to ensure that no-one
can move against him

1274
01:47:54,440 --> 01:47:56,200
without him knowing.

1275
01:48:12,840 --> 01:48:15,560
Goring has created
the Research Bureau,

1276
01:48:15,560 --> 01:48:19,120
a top-secret surveillance
organisation that uses

1277
01:48:19,120 --> 01:48:21,360
new phone-tapping technology.

1278
01:48:22,840 --> 01:48:25,320
It starts with only a few men,

1279
01:48:25,320 --> 01:48:27,840
but it will go on
to employ thousands.

1280
01:48:37,000 --> 01:48:41,760
Goring signs off on every wiretap,
and reads the transcripts.

1281
01:48:44,360 --> 01:48:47,040
He gets a kind of pleasure from it.

1282
01:48:47,040 --> 01:48:49,880
He's amused by it,
amused by what people say about him,

1283
01:48:49,880 --> 01:48:51,800
of course, and quite entertained.

1284
01:48:51,800 --> 01:48:53,200
But, at the same time, of course,

1285
01:48:53,200 --> 01:48:55,160
he's a reasonably
vengeful politician,

1286
01:48:55,160 --> 01:48:58,000
he doesn't forget the kind of things
people say about him.

1287
01:49:01,640 --> 01:49:04,760
There is one famous occasion
where he calls in

1288
01:49:04,760 --> 01:49:06,920
a number of heads
of big business and says,

1289
01:49:06,920 --> 01:49:08,760
"You know, I want you to do this."

1290
01:49:08,760 --> 01:49:11,000
And they say, "No, no,
we don't want to do this."

1291
01:49:11,000 --> 01:49:12,840
And he says,
"Well, you've got to do this,

1292
01:49:12,840 --> 01:49:15,280
"because I've got tape recordings
here of your meetings,

1293
01:49:15,280 --> 01:49:17,560
"and these tape recordings
are very incriminating.

1294
01:49:17,560 --> 01:49:20,280
"So, you either do what I tell you,
or you're in trouble."

1295
01:49:22,800 --> 01:49:26,480
One politician who bad-mouths
the Nazis is found dead.

1296
01:49:29,720 --> 01:49:33,360
To act on the information gathered
by the Research Bureau,

1297
01:49:33,360 --> 01:49:37,040
a new branch of the secret
police is created -

1298
01:49:37,040 --> 01:49:38,600
the Gestapo.

1299
01:49:41,200 --> 01:49:44,200
The Gestapo use a new measure -

1300
01:49:44,200 --> 01:49:47,400
preventative arrest -

1301
01:49:47,400 --> 01:49:50,400
to disappear Jewish people,

1302
01:49:50,400 --> 01:49:53,400
gay people, intellectuals,

1303
01:49:53,400 --> 01:49:57,200
and anyone suspected
of anti-Nazi feeling.

1304
01:50:06,320 --> 01:50:11,520
Himmler feels that the Gestapo
should be brought under his control.

1305
01:50:11,520 --> 01:50:14,920
Part of his plan to take over
all German police.

1306
01:50:16,800 --> 01:50:21,280
But getting his hands on Goring's
secret police won't be easy.

1307
01:50:22,480 --> 01:50:26,920
Himmler sees Goring as a rival
to Himmler's master plan

1308
01:50:26,920 --> 01:50:32,280
to put all German police forces
across all states under his control.

1309
01:50:32,280 --> 01:50:37,320
Himmler very much thinks that Goring
is stepping onto SS territory,

1310
01:50:37,320 --> 01:50:39,920
onto Himmler's own territory,
by setting up the Gestapo.

1311
01:50:50,000 --> 01:50:52,640
It is very difficult for Himmler
to simply say to Goring,

1312
01:50:52,640 --> 01:50:56,440
"I want to take over the Gestapo"
because Goring is not known

1313
01:50:56,440 --> 01:50:59,280
as someone who
gives up power easily.

1314
01:51:18,840 --> 01:51:24,880
Imagine a scene where Himmler,
trying to schmooze Goring

1315
01:51:24,880 --> 01:51:28,080
into giving him control
over the Gestapo.

1316
01:51:30,960 --> 01:51:34,720
For Goring, control of the police
force in Prussia and the Gestapo

1317
01:51:34,720 --> 01:51:36,240
is very important.

1318
01:51:36,240 --> 01:51:38,240
Goring doesn't really
have any other roles

1319
01:51:38,240 --> 01:51:40,680
that are particularly significant,
and so he's very keen

1320
01:51:40,680 --> 01:51:43,920
that he be able
to retain this position.

1321
01:51:46,040 --> 01:51:48,280
Goring clearly communicates
to Himmler

1322
01:51:48,280 --> 01:51:50,840
that Himmler should
mind his own business.

1323
01:51:57,520 --> 01:52:00,280
Goring doesn't compromise.

1324
01:52:00,280 --> 01:52:05,880
So Himmler starts developing some
personal animosity against Goring.

1325
01:52:05,880 --> 01:52:07,800
They do not agree at all.

1326
01:52:10,720 --> 01:52:13,720
Goring is going to be a very
difficult person to dislodge.

1327
01:52:25,120 --> 01:52:29,560
And, so, Hitler's inner circle
are at each other's throats,

1328
01:52:29,560 --> 01:52:32,600
whilst also trying to impress him.

1329
01:52:32,600 --> 01:52:36,120
This internal conflict
within the Nazi party will soon

1330
01:52:36,120 --> 01:52:38,240
reach a bloody conclusion.

1331
01:52:39,880 --> 01:52:43,320
But, for Hitler, whilst his aims
are being achieved,

1332
01:52:43,320 --> 01:52:46,040
this rivalry will
seem insignificant.

1333
01:52:54,640 --> 01:52:57,600
And, with his team dismantling
the system for him,

1334
01:52:57,600 --> 01:52:59,800
he can just sit back and watch.

1335
01:53:09,120 --> 01:53:14,440
Hitler spends increasing amounts
of time in his summer retreat

1336
01:53:14,440 --> 01:53:17,840
in the Alps, in Berchtesgaden.

1337
01:53:19,280 --> 01:53:23,600
He retreats there sometimes
for weeks or even months on end.

1338
01:53:25,800 --> 01:53:28,600
He spends a lot of time,
far into the night,

1339
01:53:28,600 --> 01:53:33,360
watching old movies,
does not get up particularly early

1340
01:53:33,360 --> 01:53:35,080
in the morning.

1341
01:53:35,080 --> 01:53:38,440
And, of course, he has
a relationship with Eva Braun,

1342
01:53:38,440 --> 01:53:41,360
whom he keeps absolutely secret
from the rest of the world.

1343
01:53:43,720 --> 01:53:46,440
In just six months
from becoming Chancellor...

1344
01:53:48,120 --> 01:53:50,520
..Hitler has destroyed
the political opposition...

1345
01:53:52,240 --> 01:53:54,040
..opened Dachau...

1346
01:53:55,360 --> 01:53:57,760
..subverted the legal system...

1347
01:53:59,040 --> 01:54:01,960
..created the Gestapo...

1348
01:54:01,960 --> 01:54:05,240
..and begun to pollute the minds
of the German people

1349
01:54:05,240 --> 01:54:08,760
with the Nazis' racist doctrine
of anti-Semitism.

1350
01:54:37,440 --> 01:54:42,520
And there are lessons for us
to learn from that crisis.

1351
01:54:42,520 --> 01:54:49,680
How easily you can move to a stage
of totalitarian dictatorship.

1352
01:54:52,440 --> 01:54:57,800
Democracy is fragile,
because in order for it to be truly

1353
01:54:57,800 --> 01:55:02,440
democratic, in the purest sense,
it leaves itself open to being

1354
01:55:02,440 --> 01:55:06,360
taken over by fundamentally
anti-democratic forces.

1355
01:55:09,880 --> 01:55:15,400
Democracies require, first of all,
popular support and popular belief

1356
01:55:15,400 --> 01:55:21,480
in institutions, such as a free
press, an independent judiciary,

1357
01:55:21,480 --> 01:55:24,000
and democratic elections.

1358
01:55:26,000 --> 01:55:30,720
The echoes that we find
in our own time of the Nazis'

1359
01:55:30,720 --> 01:55:33,600
seizure of power are in
a number of different areas.

1360
01:55:35,720 --> 01:55:39,120
Emergency powers, for example,
emergency decrees,

1361
01:55:39,120 --> 01:55:42,160
state of emergency,
that allowed them to put their own

1362
01:55:42,160 --> 01:55:45,880
plans into action without
any serious opposition.

1363
01:55:47,600 --> 01:55:49,560
The rise of the Nazis
was not inevitable.

1364
01:55:49,560 --> 01:55:51,600
There were many warning signs.

1365
01:55:51,600 --> 01:55:56,040
Democracy was a relatively
new form of political rule

1366
01:55:56,040 --> 01:55:58,520
in the 1920s and 1930s.

1367
01:55:58,520 --> 01:56:02,200
People simply didn't know
that the institutions of democracy,

1368
01:56:02,200 --> 01:56:05,160
that democracy, as such,
was extremely frail,

1369
01:56:05,160 --> 01:56:08,640
that democracy constantly
needed defending.

1370
01:56:08,640 --> 01:56:11,560
And this is a story
that is still worth retelling,

1371
01:56:11,560 --> 01:56:14,880
a story that institutions,
the institutions of democracy,

1372
01:56:14,880 --> 01:56:16,880
should not be taken for granted.

1373
01:56:16,880 --> 01:56:19,960
That democracy needs vigorous
defence against forces

1374
01:56:19,960 --> 01:56:22,400
of the populist far right.

1375
01:56:59,280 --> 01:57:03,480
Hitler can't actually call himself
the leader until Hindenburg,

1376
01:57:03,480 --> 01:57:05,440
the President, is dead.

1377
01:57:05,440 --> 01:57:07,840
Rohm was too powerful.

1378
01:57:07,840 --> 01:57:11,680
Hitler feared this kind of power.

1379
01:57:16,040 --> 01:57:21,160
Himmler hopes very much that Hitler
will finally act and eliminate Rohm.

1380
01:58:07,460 --> 01:58:10,080
In late 1933,

1381
01:58:10,080 --> 01:58:14,360
Chancellor Adolf Hitler is one step
away from total power.

1382
01:58:16,560 --> 01:58:20,040
Only Germany's elderly president,
Paul von Hindenburg,

1383
01:58:20,040 --> 01:58:22,320
stands in his way -

1384
01:58:22,320 --> 01:58:26,480
the one man with the power to sack a
Chancellor -

1385
01:58:26,480 --> 01:58:30,320
so it's vital for Hitler to keep
him onside.

1386
01:58:32,400 --> 01:58:36,200
Believe it or not,
Hitler can be charming...

1387
01:58:38,160 --> 01:58:42,960
..and he exercised this charm on
Hindenburg,

1388
01:58:42,960 --> 01:58:45,680
I think, to probably quite good
effect.

1389
01:58:47,960 --> 01:58:53,120
Von Hindenburg, he, perhaps against
his better judgment,

1390
01:58:53,120 --> 01:58:55,960
becomes a little impressed by
Hitler.

1391
01:59:02,080 --> 01:59:06,920
This is the story of how Hitler went
from Chancellor

1392
01:59:06,920 --> 01:59:08,720
to all-powerful dictator.

1393
01:59:13,720 --> 01:59:19,560
To piece together how it happened,
historians and experts have examined

1394
01:59:19,560 --> 01:59:24,360
this period - each from a different
individual perspective.

1395
01:59:24,360 --> 01:59:27,040
You cajole, you influence,

1396
01:59:27,040 --> 01:59:28,880
you manipulate.

1397
01:59:28,880 --> 01:59:32,960
They'll take us inside the minds of
those that fought fascism...

1398
01:59:32,960 --> 01:59:35,640
They realised that these people are
after your heads.

1399
01:59:35,640 --> 01:59:39,000
They want to annihilate you from
existence altogether.

1400
01:59:39,000 --> 01:59:40,800
..and the Nazis themselves.

1401
01:59:40,800 --> 01:59:44,960
Himmler genuinely believed that he
would create a racially pure

1402
01:59:44,960 --> 01:59:48,000
Germany, where the Aryan race would
reign supreme.

1403
01:59:53,760 --> 01:59:57,160
The moments when history hung in the
balance

1404
01:59:57,160 --> 02:00:00,080
and the world's worst atrocities

1405
02:00:00,080 --> 02:00:02,360
could have been prevented.

1406
02:00:02,360 --> 02:00:04,800
Mass murder was no problem...

1407
02:00:04,800 --> 02:00:07,080
GUNSHOTS AND SCREAMS

1408
02:00:07,080 --> 02:00:10,760
..but it was important to be
socially acceptable.

1409
02:00:20,120 --> 02:00:22,320
Do people care about the truth?

1410
02:01:09,800 --> 02:01:14,240
Adolf Hitler will go on to oversee
the murder of millions of people.

1411
02:01:17,000 --> 02:01:19,280
But, in 1933,

1412
02:01:19,280 --> 02:01:23,000
he is the outwardly respectable
Chancellor of Germany,

1413
02:01:23,000 --> 02:01:25,840
the equivalent of Prime Minister.

1414
02:01:29,320 --> 02:01:31,760
But, just under a year into the job,

1415
02:01:31,760 --> 02:01:36,120
he's finding being in government a
difficult balancing act.

1416
02:01:40,000 --> 02:01:43,240
He has two very different audiences
to please...

1417
02:01:44,840 --> 02:01:47,520
..the aristocratic elite,

1418
02:01:47,520 --> 02:01:49,800
the president,

1419
02:01:49,800 --> 02:01:52,240
the generals

1420
02:01:52,240 --> 02:01:54,680
and his Vice Chancellor.

1421
02:01:54,680 --> 02:01:58,560
They're uneasy about the Nazis,
seeing them as thuggish

1422
02:01:58,560 --> 02:02:01,920
and worrying they could destabilise
the whole system.

1423
02:02:04,400 --> 02:02:08,080
On the other hand,
Hitler has his base,

1424
02:02:08,080 --> 02:02:12,040
the Stormtroopers, the paramilitary
wing of the Nazis.

1425
02:02:12,040 --> 02:02:14,840
Over two million angry young men.

1426
02:02:14,840 --> 02:02:16,520
They're waiting for Hitler

1427
02:02:16,520 --> 02:02:19,000
to deliver the Nazi revolution he
promised.

1428
02:02:21,760 --> 02:02:25,080
None more so than the leader of the
Stormtroopers.

1429
02:02:36,920 --> 02:02:41,480
For Rohm, the aim was a revolution
in Germany

1430
02:02:41,480 --> 02:02:44,320
to change the political system.

1431
02:02:53,320 --> 02:02:57,600
Ernst Rohm was a trained officer.

1432
02:02:58,640 --> 02:03:01,960
He was military and ruthless.

1433
02:03:05,280 --> 02:03:07,000
Rohm is an adventurer.

1434
02:03:10,280 --> 02:03:14,000
He is not really a politician.

1435
02:03:15,280 --> 02:03:19,480
Hitler owes Rohm a lot and he knows

1436
02:03:19,480 --> 02:03:23,040
that Rohm is one of his oldest
comrades.

1437
02:03:33,960 --> 02:03:39,160
Hitler promised Rohm that they would
get rid of the old elites,

1438
02:03:39,160 --> 02:03:42,000
that they would get rid of the rich

1439
02:03:42,000 --> 02:03:46,440
and they would change the whole
system.

1440
02:03:46,440 --> 02:03:48,920
Hitler couldn't hold his promises.

1441
02:03:52,080 --> 02:03:55,320
Unleashing violence against their
left wing enemies,

1442
02:03:55,320 --> 02:03:59,160
Rohm's Stormtroopers have been
useful to Hitler -

1443
02:03:59,160 --> 02:04:01,640
but now they could become a threat.

1444
02:04:04,840 --> 02:04:08,160
Their violent attacks are upsetting
the public.

1445
02:04:09,680 --> 02:04:13,200
As Chancellor, Hitler wants things
to appear calm.

1446
02:04:28,640 --> 02:04:31,280
Rohm's actions pose a problem for
Hitler because Hitler

1447
02:04:31,280 --> 02:04:34,920
needed to persuade the elites.

1448
02:04:34,920 --> 02:04:37,600
He needed to persuade the
conservative establishment.

1449
02:04:37,600 --> 02:04:41,360
He needed to persuade Hindenburg
that he was to be trusted,

1450
02:04:41,360 --> 02:04:45,920
that he was a solid bourgeois
statesman.

1451
02:04:45,920 --> 02:04:49,760
Hitler got increasingly concerned
about Rohm's discontent,

1452
02:04:49,760 --> 02:04:54,880
as it were, and about his whole kind
of persona as a rough,

1453
02:04:54,880 --> 02:04:57,200
soldierly, violent type.

1454
02:05:00,440 --> 02:05:03,160
But Hitler needs to placate Rohm
and,

1455
02:05:03,160 --> 02:05:07,640
in a move that risks upsetting the
aristocratic elites,

1456
02:05:07,640 --> 02:05:11,520
he brings the revolutionary Rohm
into the political fold,

1457
02:05:11,520 --> 02:05:14,600
giving him a job in the cabinet.

1458
02:05:16,400 --> 02:05:18,680
He's minister without portfolio.

1459
02:05:24,960 --> 02:05:27,160
But Rohm isn't satisfied.

1460
02:05:29,040 --> 02:05:33,040
He feels he and his millions of
Stormtroopers were promised more.

1461
02:05:35,000 --> 02:05:38,560
Rohm doesn't want to command
auxiliaries.

1462
02:05:38,560 --> 02:05:40,360
He wanted an army.

1463
02:05:41,640 --> 02:05:48,880
He saw himself as a commander,
the commander of the new Nazi army.

1464
02:05:50,360 --> 02:05:56,080
These are promises Hitler made
before he became Chancellor.

1465
02:05:57,240 --> 02:05:59,120
In his view, Hitler...

1466
02:06:01,640 --> 02:06:04,680
..betrays his friends.

1467
02:06:07,320 --> 02:06:10,200
So, running out of patience,

1468
02:06:10,200 --> 02:06:12,440
Rohm makes a wild and bold move.

1469
02:06:13,680 --> 02:06:18,240
He goes behind Hitler's back and
tries to take control of the army

1470
02:06:18,240 --> 02:06:21,200
from the aristocratic generals,

1471
02:06:21,200 --> 02:06:25,280
men who report directly to the army
supreme commander,

1472
02:06:25,280 --> 02:06:27,080
President Hindenburg.

1473
02:06:29,960 --> 02:06:33,600
I suspect Hindenburg is pretty
horrified at this.

1474
02:06:34,800 --> 02:06:39,880
The armed forces are the servants
of that state and of its people...

1475
02:06:42,520 --> 02:06:45,520
..on a apolitical basis,

1476
02:06:45,520 --> 02:06:49,400
and there is no room for political
manoeuvring

1477
02:06:49,400 --> 02:06:53,160
by the armed forces of any state.

1478
02:06:53,160 --> 02:06:57,760
They were just a load of bully boys
and were, by no means,

1479
02:06:57,760 --> 02:07:02,760
an army which could, for example,
attack France and prevail.

1480
02:07:02,760 --> 02:07:04,760
I mean, it is unthinkable.

1481
02:07:04,760 --> 02:07:07,720
That was the job of the army
proper.

1482
02:07:10,680 --> 02:07:15,440
So Hitler can't afford to upset the
generals and the president.

1483
02:07:15,440 --> 02:07:18,560
But, with Rohm, it's more than
politics -

1484
02:07:18,560 --> 02:07:20,080
it's personal.

1485
02:07:23,240 --> 02:07:26,720
Rohm opened gates for Hitler.

1486
02:07:29,120 --> 02:07:32,200
Rohm was the one who had influence.

1487
02:07:33,920 --> 02:07:38,680
Hitler is a frequent visitor to the
Rohm family,

1488
02:07:38,680 --> 02:07:42,640
Rohm's mother and his sister,
Eleonore,

1489
02:07:42,640 --> 02:07:44,960
so they became friends.

1490
02:07:51,160 --> 02:07:56,960
And therefore Rohm is someone who
supports Hitler

1491
02:07:56,960 --> 02:08:02,280
not only politically, but, at the
same time, personally.

1492
02:08:03,880 --> 02:08:08,440
And when Hitler's niece and rumoured
lover killed herself,

1493
02:08:08,440 --> 02:08:11,880
it was Rohm he wanted with him at
the graveside.

1494
02:08:16,360 --> 02:08:21,400
Hitler is stuck between the
president and his friend.

1495
02:08:30,760 --> 02:08:33,280
When it comes to dealing with Rohm,

1496
02:08:33,280 --> 02:08:35,800
Hermann Goring has no such qualms.

1497
02:08:41,840 --> 02:08:44,400
For Goring, the problem with Rohm,
I think,

1498
02:08:44,400 --> 02:08:50,520
is that Rohm has ambitions to be a
second, perhaps,

1499
02:08:50,520 --> 02:08:54,640
to Hitler. You know, that's what
Goring wants to be.

1500
02:08:54,640 --> 02:08:58,040
Is it possible, perhaps, that Rohm
is thinking of launching some kind

1501
02:08:58,040 --> 02:09:00,040
of revolution, even putting Hitler
to one side?

1502
02:09:00,040 --> 02:09:02,680
Now, for Goring, that would be
unthinkable.

1503
02:09:04,720 --> 02:09:07,440
He's got to find a way of persuading
Hitler that, you know,

1504
02:09:07,440 --> 02:09:11,920
this is a point at which he's got to
break that friendship with Rohm.

1505
02:09:11,920 --> 02:09:15,200
He's got to recognise that Rohm is
not just a companion

1506
02:09:15,200 --> 02:09:17,520
but he's a threat,

1507
02:09:17,520 --> 02:09:20,560
so all that Goring has got to do is
to show Hitler evidence

1508
02:09:20,560 --> 02:09:22,720
that Rohm is not loyal.

1509
02:09:28,560 --> 02:09:32,120
So Goring orders his secret
surveillance organisation,

1510
02:09:32,120 --> 02:09:35,160
the Research Bureau, to go after
Rohm...

1511
02:09:47,920 --> 02:09:52,040
..building a file of everything Rohm
says or does.

1512
02:10:01,160 --> 02:10:06,080
And Hitler publicly forces Rohm to
back down from his demands

1513
02:10:06,080 --> 02:10:09,000
for the Stormtroopers to take over
Germany's army.

1514
02:10:20,680 --> 02:10:24,640
He summons Rohm and the army leaders
to a meeting,

1515
02:10:24,640 --> 02:10:27,160
where he makes it clear that the
army,

1516
02:10:27,160 --> 02:10:29,120
and not the Stormtroopers,

1517
02:10:29,120 --> 02:10:31,600
are Germany's military force.

1518
02:10:33,840 --> 02:10:35,840
It's a devastating blow for Rohm.

1519
02:10:37,480 --> 02:10:39,360
He's even forced to shake hands

1520
02:10:39,360 --> 02:10:41,880
with the defence minister -
General Blomberg.

1521
02:10:48,120 --> 02:10:51,560
Shaking hands with Blomberg meant
nothing to Rohm.

1522
02:10:54,880 --> 02:10:56,840
He, er, saw...

1523
02:10:58,000 --> 02:11:01,560
..the Nazi Party, the Nazi militia,

1524
02:11:01,560 --> 02:11:04,640
now in the driver's seat.

1525
02:11:07,920 --> 02:11:11,880
Afterwards, Rohm makes a series of
thinly veiled threats.

1526
02:11:16,520 --> 02:11:18,840
"Hitler is a ridiculous corporal

1527
02:11:18,840 --> 02:11:20,480
"and should go on leave."

1528
02:11:25,160 --> 02:11:29,200
Rohm very openly criticised Hitler

1529
02:11:29,200 --> 02:11:33,280
for his decision to go with an army,

1530
02:11:33,280 --> 02:11:36,520
therefore he was, kind of,
a dangerous person

1531
02:11:36,520 --> 02:11:39,960
because Rohm didn't let go.
He doesn't accept it.

1532
02:11:43,800 --> 02:11:50,480
And he was a danger to this whole
notion of Hitler as Fuhrer.

1533
02:11:59,440 --> 02:12:03,800
Goring now makes a shrewd move in
his plot against Rohm.

1534
02:12:07,640 --> 02:12:10,360
He enlists the help of his rival -

1535
02:12:10,360 --> 02:12:11,880
Heinrich Himmler.

1536
02:12:15,560 --> 02:12:16,960
Over the past year,

1537
02:12:16,960 --> 02:12:20,640
Himmler has taken over police forces
across Germany,

1538
02:12:20,640 --> 02:12:24,440
but the biggest and most powerful
remains outside his control.

1539
02:12:25,920 --> 02:12:29,200
In April, Goring gives Himmler
the thing he wants most -

1540
02:12:29,200 --> 02:12:30,600
his Gestapo.

1541
02:12:32,200 --> 02:12:35,760
In exchange, Goring plans to harness
Himmler's terror network

1542
02:12:35,760 --> 02:12:37,320
to bring down Rohm.

1543
02:12:38,600 --> 02:12:40,160
Himmler is pleased.

1544
02:12:40,160 --> 02:12:43,400
He's now inspector of the Gestapo,
so he's almost there,

1545
02:12:43,400 --> 02:12:47,520
on his way to taking over control of
all German police forces.

1546
02:12:49,880 --> 02:12:54,040
One character trait about Himmler
that is the most important one

1547
02:12:54,040 --> 02:12:57,360
is his absolute careerism and his
ruthlessness -

1548
02:12:57,360 --> 02:13:01,160
his ambition, his drive,
to make it to the top.

1549
02:13:02,120 --> 02:13:08,840
Here is someone who prioritises
rational procedures over emotions -

1550
02:13:08,840 --> 02:13:10,280
over human feelings.

1551
02:13:13,800 --> 02:13:15,760
As head of the Stormtroopers,

1552
02:13:15,760 --> 02:13:19,840
Rohm is Himmler's superior,
a man he'd once hero worshipped.

1553
02:13:24,520 --> 02:13:28,240
But Himmler now dreams of destroying
the Stormtroopers

1554
02:13:28,240 --> 02:13:32,640
and making his own SS Germany's only
paramilitary force.

1555
02:13:36,480 --> 02:13:41,480
Himmler, in public, had to display
some loyalty towards Rohm.

1556
02:13:48,720 --> 02:13:50,080
Behind the scenes,

1557
02:13:50,080 --> 02:13:53,440
Himmler had no qualms about getting
rid of Rohm.

1558
02:14:02,360 --> 02:14:05,200
Himmler is collecting evidence
against Rohm,

1559
02:14:05,200 --> 02:14:07,600
putting Rohm into a really bad
light,

1560
02:14:07,600 --> 02:14:09,400
in terms of Rohm's private life,

1561
02:14:09,400 --> 02:14:13,240
in terms of Rohm's political
activities.

1562
02:14:13,240 --> 02:14:16,280
Himmler makes sure that it reaches
Hitler's desk.

1563
02:14:18,440 --> 02:14:22,400
Himmler hopes very much that Hitler
will finally act

1564
02:14:22,400 --> 02:14:25,240
and eliminate Rohm.

1565
02:14:25,240 --> 02:14:27,360
Rohm has an Achilles heel

1566
02:14:27,360 --> 02:14:29,920
that Goring and Himmler are keen to
exploit.

1567
02:14:34,040 --> 02:14:38,040
He is openly gay at a time when it's
illegal.

1568
02:14:38,040 --> 02:14:41,480
He frequented Berlin's famous gay
club, The Eldorado,

1569
02:14:41,480 --> 02:14:44,520
sipping cocktails with men dressed
in drag.

1570
02:14:54,080 --> 02:14:59,240
Rohm lived a different life than all
others.

1571
02:14:59,240 --> 02:15:01,080
He was a homosexual

1572
02:15:01,080 --> 02:15:04,000
and he lived this kind of life

1573
02:15:04,000 --> 02:15:05,880
more and more openly.

1574
02:15:05,880 --> 02:15:10,120
He met with male prostitutes.

1575
02:15:10,120 --> 02:15:12,920
In the view of his comrades,

1576
02:15:12,920 --> 02:15:15,000
he was not normal.

1577
02:15:21,800 --> 02:15:23,520
Since the Nazis came to power,

1578
02:15:23,520 --> 02:15:27,360
they have strictly enforced the
socially conservative laws -

1579
02:15:27,360 --> 02:15:31,160
meaning Rohm could face imprisonment
for his sexuality.

1580
02:15:35,000 --> 02:15:38,960
Defying his colleagues,
Rohm has joined an organisation

1581
02:15:38,960 --> 02:15:40,880
campaigning for gay rights.

1582
02:15:44,000 --> 02:15:47,200
The Nazis wanted to transform
society.

1583
02:15:49,720 --> 02:15:54,280
Everything should be clean, Aryan...

1584
02:15:54,280 --> 02:15:56,840
Er, no prostitutes.

1585
02:15:56,840 --> 02:15:59,280
No smoking, women...

1586
02:15:59,280 --> 02:16:01,800
..and Rohm...

1587
02:16:01,800 --> 02:16:03,760
..dismissed this.

1588
02:16:10,400 --> 02:16:16,400
It shows the stern character of Rohm
that he openly

1589
02:16:16,400 --> 02:16:19,720
lived his homosexuality.

1590
02:16:19,720 --> 02:16:27,360
In a letter, he said, "I know it's a
criminal act in Germany,

1591
02:16:27,360 --> 02:16:31,520
"but, then, I'm a criminal and they
have to take me like this."

1592
02:16:34,720 --> 02:16:37,240
Rohm obviously felt very secure

1593
02:16:37,240 --> 02:16:40,480
because he was such a close friend
to Hitler.

1594
02:16:46,480 --> 02:16:50,080
For years, Rohm's sexuality has been
an open secret.

1595
02:16:52,240 --> 02:16:56,560
Hitler even defended Rohm when the
press tried to expose him.

1596
02:16:59,280 --> 02:17:02,880
Hitler wasn't particularly bothered
by Rohm's homosexuality.

1597
02:17:02,880 --> 02:17:06,760
He, as it were, forgave him because
of his services

1598
02:17:06,760 --> 02:17:10,400
to the movement and his obvious
loyalty to Hitler.

1599
02:17:11,400 --> 02:17:13,960
Hitler didn't really want to know
about people's private lives,

1600
02:17:13,960 --> 02:17:15,640
I think.

1601
02:17:15,640 --> 02:17:19,240
Hitler had a certain kind of loyalty
to old comrades,

1602
02:17:19,240 --> 02:17:22,080
which he certainly felt towards
Rohm.

1603
02:17:23,800 --> 02:17:26,280
But now Hitler sees that Rohm's
sexuality

1604
02:17:26,280 --> 02:17:28,240
could be a way to bring him down.

1605
02:17:29,520 --> 02:17:32,720
Meanwhile, Rohm is making his own
moves.

1606
02:18:11,840 --> 02:18:14,160
In early 1934,

1607
02:18:14,160 --> 02:18:17,080
Rohm stages Stormtrooper manoeuvres
across Germany.

1608
02:18:18,800 --> 02:18:21,880
Stormtrooper membership is growing
fast

1609
02:18:21,880 --> 02:18:24,840
and Rohm now commands around four
million men.

1610
02:18:27,080 --> 02:18:29,720
He publicly calls for revolution.

1611
02:18:49,280 --> 02:18:51,240
Unable to bring Rohm to heel,

1612
02:18:51,240 --> 02:18:55,200
Hitler's ability to pass himself
off as a respectable statesman

1613
02:18:55,200 --> 02:18:56,840
is under threat.

1614
02:19:01,280 --> 02:19:05,320
The elites that surround President
Hindenburg are getting nervous.

1615
02:19:07,280 --> 02:19:10,640
The aristocratic Vice Chancellor
Franz von Papen

1616
02:19:10,640 --> 02:19:12,560
helped Hitler get into power.

1617
02:19:16,720 --> 02:19:19,440
Now he's dealing with the
consequences.

1618
02:19:21,440 --> 02:19:23,240
Papen has been uneasy...

1619
02:19:24,800 --> 02:19:26,640
..because of the...

1620
02:19:26,640 --> 02:19:28,960
..the general lawlessness

1621
02:19:28,960 --> 02:19:33,120
is now becoming the talking point of
the civilised world.

1622
02:19:33,120 --> 02:19:37,160
These Stormtroopers are intimidating
diplomats,

1623
02:19:37,160 --> 02:19:40,240
people who are going to report back
to their own country.

1624
02:19:41,760 --> 02:19:45,960
It is a troubling thing for him to
see that this will essentially

1625
02:19:45,960 --> 02:19:49,560
end up by damaging Germany's
reputation in the outside world.

1626
02:19:52,520 --> 02:19:56,080
Then news comes through that the
president is on his last legs

1627
02:19:56,080 --> 02:19:58,080
and won't live much longer.

1628
02:20:01,480 --> 02:20:06,120
Hitler wants President Hindenburg to
name him successor before he dies

1629
02:20:06,120 --> 02:20:08,760
so he can take complete control of
Germany.

1630
02:20:10,920 --> 02:20:14,000
If the ruling class wants to stop
that from happening,

1631
02:20:14,000 --> 02:20:15,960
it's now or never.

1632
02:20:15,960 --> 02:20:19,640
And the next move comes from an
unlikely player.

1633
02:20:22,560 --> 02:20:26,520
Inside the Vice Chancellor's office
is Papen's speech writer,

1634
02:20:26,520 --> 02:20:28,800
Edgar Jung,

1635
02:20:28,800 --> 02:20:33,520
a right wing intellectual, who is
secretly plotting Hitler's downfall.

1636
02:20:46,960 --> 02:20:50,360
Jung belongs to the educated upper
bourgeois

1637
02:20:50,360 --> 02:20:53,720
and he grows up steeped in their
values.

1638
02:20:53,720 --> 02:20:58,120
He sees himself as belonging to the
class that should be ruling.

1639
02:20:58,120 --> 02:21:01,720
He sees himself as a potential
Minister of the Interior,

1640
02:21:01,720 --> 02:21:04,200
if not a Chancellor of a future
Germany.

1641
02:21:04,200 --> 02:21:07,240
So, when the Nazis first come in,
Jung is absolutely delighted.

1642
02:21:07,240 --> 02:21:10,520
He sees them as a very convenient
vehicle for change.

1643
02:21:13,280 --> 02:21:16,600
They are very strong leadership.

1644
02:21:16,600 --> 02:21:19,040
They are bringing a new
authoritarian sense

1645
02:21:19,040 --> 02:21:20,840
of direction to Germany.

1646
02:21:23,480 --> 02:21:27,040
1933, '34 is a very bad year for
Germany.

1647
02:21:29,880 --> 02:21:31,920
There is still huge amounts of
violence,

1648
02:21:31,920 --> 02:21:33,840
with the Stormtroopers on the
streets.

1649
02:21:38,120 --> 02:21:41,360
There isn't the immediate economic
miracle they had hoped for.

1650
02:21:41,360 --> 02:21:45,840
The honeymoon period for the Nazis
is over.

1651
02:21:45,840 --> 02:21:48,920
I think Jung feels a real sense of
responsibility and guilt

1652
02:21:48,920 --> 02:21:52,320
for enabling someone like this to
then entrench themselves

1653
02:21:52,320 --> 02:21:54,360
at the leadership,
at the very highest levels

1654
02:21:54,360 --> 02:21:56,320
of his country's politics.

1655
02:21:58,360 --> 02:22:01,120
Deep within Papen's Vice
Chancellery,

1656
02:22:01,120 --> 02:22:04,520
Jung and others have formed a
resistance cell.

1657
02:22:09,600 --> 02:22:13,040
He's working with people who have
got connections in intelligence.

1658
02:22:13,040 --> 02:22:15,480
They are trying to warn people
before they get arrested,

1659
02:22:15,480 --> 02:22:18,320
they're trying to get people out of
the country when possible,

1660
02:22:18,320 --> 02:22:21,360
they're trying to get people out of
prison when they have been arrested.

1661
02:22:21,360 --> 02:22:24,040
Politically, they're manoeuvring
inside the Reichstag,

1662
02:22:24,040 --> 02:22:26,040
so they're doing really quite
important

1663
02:22:26,040 --> 02:22:27,880
and very dangerous political work.

1664
02:22:29,080 --> 02:22:31,520
Jung had even made a plan to
assassinate Hitler...

1665
02:22:32,640 --> 02:22:36,760
..but abandoned it in case it
damaged his own political ambitions.

1666
02:22:41,120 --> 02:22:44,960
Instead, Jung plans to get Hitler
removed from power.

1667
02:22:46,480 --> 02:22:49,280
He'll write a high profile speech
for Papen

1668
02:22:49,280 --> 02:22:52,440
that will expose the violent truth
about Rohm,

1669
02:22:52,440 --> 02:22:55,040
the Stormtroopers and Nazi rule.

1670
02:22:57,200 --> 02:23:00,720
The speech should be enough to force
Hindenburg to get rid of Hitler...

1671
02:23:02,400 --> 02:23:06,080
..but it all hinges on getting Papen
to deliver it.

1672
02:23:08,920 --> 02:23:11,160
Jung realises that this is a good
moment,

1673
02:23:11,160 --> 02:23:13,200
both because we have public
discontent,

1674
02:23:13,200 --> 02:23:16,680
we have the threat of violence
turning into something more,

1675
02:23:16,680 --> 02:23:18,560
perhaps a political putsch...

1676
02:23:20,920 --> 02:23:23,720
..and we have Hindenburg's
deteriorating health.

1677
02:23:23,720 --> 02:23:26,960
It's the time to act and,
conveniently, at this moment,

1678
02:23:26,960 --> 02:23:30,440
Papen gets an invitation from the
University of Marburg

1679
02:23:30,440 --> 02:23:33,080
to give a speech, which is perfect.

1680
02:23:37,320 --> 02:23:39,720
Jung is an intellectual and he's a
communicator,

1681
02:23:39,720 --> 02:23:44,440
and he puts pen to paper,
and what he drafts is basically

1682
02:23:44,440 --> 02:23:46,280
his alternative manifesto,

1683
02:23:46,280 --> 02:23:50,760
or at least his alternative path for
Germany.

1684
02:24:00,280 --> 02:24:03,760
Jung doesn't trust Papen to deliver
the speech,

1685
02:24:03,760 --> 02:24:07,480
but he has some insurance policies.

1686
02:24:07,480 --> 02:24:09,880
He distributes advanced copies to
the press...

1687
02:24:11,360 --> 02:24:13,600
..and gets Goebbels' propaganda
ministry

1688
02:24:13,600 --> 02:24:16,480
to agree to a live radio broadcast

1689
02:24:16,480 --> 02:24:20,600
so that Hindenburg can listen from
his estate.

1690
02:24:20,600 --> 02:24:23,640
And Jung doesn't give Papen the
speech

1691
02:24:23,640 --> 02:24:25,840
until he is on his way to Marburg.

1692
02:24:27,680 --> 02:24:32,640
Papen is travelling towards Marburg
in Hesse, in central Germany,

1693
02:24:32,640 --> 02:24:35,720
to give a speech to some 600 people.

1694
02:24:35,720 --> 02:24:40,080
Papen, as a leading representative,
the Vice Chancellor,

1695
02:24:40,080 --> 02:24:42,240
is a representative of the
government

1696
02:24:42,240 --> 02:24:44,840
sent out, essentially, to do...

1697
02:24:44,840 --> 02:24:48,680
..call it what you will, marketing
or PR for the government.

1698
02:24:48,680 --> 02:24:51,720
And he reads the speech,

1699
02:24:51,720 --> 02:24:55,280
the words that are being put into
his mouth, and he is alarmed.

1700
02:24:55,280 --> 02:24:59,040
He says that this speech could cost
him his head.

1701
02:24:59,040 --> 02:25:03,880
But the speech has already been sent
out, and therefore some members

1702
02:25:03,880 --> 02:25:07,280
of the press already have the
speech. He can't go back on it,

1703
02:25:07,280 --> 02:25:10,720
so he reluctantly agrees to deliver
the speech.

1704
02:25:16,160 --> 02:25:18,000
Jung knows that Papen...

1705
02:25:19,040 --> 02:25:22,360
..maybe he won't have the backbone
to give the talk word-for-word,

1706
02:25:22,360 --> 02:25:25,200
as he's written it, but then also
maybe he hasn't got the intellect

1707
02:25:25,200 --> 02:25:27,840
or the backbone to replace it with
something else.

1708
02:25:27,840 --> 02:25:30,440
It's all very last-minute, so he's
really on tenterhooks

1709
02:25:30,440 --> 02:25:31,920
to see what is delivered.

1710
02:25:31,920 --> 02:25:33,920
RADIO HISSES

1711
02:25:35,960 --> 02:25:39,920
Jung is listening to the radio,
incredibly anxious.

1712
02:25:39,920 --> 02:25:41,800
"What's going to happen?"

1713
02:25:41,800 --> 02:25:44,320
PAPEN'S VOICE ON RADIO

1714
02:25:44,320 --> 02:25:47,720
And Papen begins to deliver the
speech.

1715
02:26:02,680 --> 02:26:04,720
And he gives is pretty much as
given.

1716
02:26:04,720 --> 02:26:07,600
Because he gets on a roll,
he responds to his audience.

1717
02:26:07,600 --> 02:26:09,640
This is revolutionary stuff.

1718
02:26:15,920 --> 02:26:18,040
It is a very dramatic speech,
as well.

1719
02:26:18,040 --> 02:26:20,480
He uses this incredibly strong
language,

1720
02:26:20,480 --> 02:26:24,120
so he talks about it being time to
silence the fanatics

1721
02:26:24,120 --> 02:26:29,000
and, er, make room for the work of
serious men to do the serious work.

1722
02:26:44,920 --> 02:26:48,520
There's thunderous applause in the
hall and Papen adores being adored,

1723
02:26:48,520 --> 02:26:50,160
and so he gets on a real roll

1724
02:26:50,160 --> 02:26:52,360
and he delivers the whole thing
word for word.

1725
02:27:01,080 --> 02:27:02,600
Jung can hardly believe it.

1726
02:27:02,600 --> 02:27:04,720
He's banging his hand repeatedly
on the table,

1727
02:27:04,720 --> 02:27:06,960
saying, "He bought it!
He bought it!"

1728
02:27:06,960 --> 02:27:09,040
So he's absolutely delighted.

1729
02:27:13,200 --> 02:27:16,520
Some of the Stormtroopers quite
pointedly walk out of the room,

1730
02:27:16,520 --> 02:27:19,080
but essentially it's a huge success.

1731
02:27:23,560 --> 02:27:25,200
Papen seems to be delighted.

1732
02:27:25,200 --> 02:27:27,680
There's a wonderful photograph of
him walking down the steps

1733
02:27:27,680 --> 02:27:29,760
of the hall afterwards and he really
looks like

1734
02:27:29,760 --> 02:27:31,080
the cat that's got the cream.

1735
02:27:34,400 --> 02:27:39,640
He was the object of the adulation
of the crowd

1736
02:27:39,640 --> 02:27:42,920
and that sort of thing probably goes
to his head a little bit.

1737
02:27:49,080 --> 02:27:52,280
The Marburg speech sent shock waves
across Germany

1738
02:27:52,280 --> 02:27:55,040
and the public rally in support of
Papen,

1739
02:27:55,040 --> 02:27:58,040
who sees an opportunity to become
President himself.

1740
02:27:59,920 --> 02:28:01,560
To topple Hitler,

1741
02:28:01,560 --> 02:28:06,480
all Papen needs to do now is seize
the momentum and get to Hindenburg.

1742
02:28:09,880 --> 02:28:13,680
But when the Nazis order news of the
speech to be banned,

1743
02:28:13,680 --> 02:28:18,080
Papen's ego is bruised and he
decides to first visit Hitler.

1744
02:28:18,080 --> 02:28:21,880
Papen is furious and goes to
complain to Hitler,

1745
02:28:21,880 --> 02:28:25,400
threatening to resign as
Vice Chancellor of the Reich.

1746
02:28:26,520 --> 02:28:29,280
That was a big problem for him.

1747
02:28:29,280 --> 02:28:32,520
There's a danger that Von Papen
would go to see Hindenburg

1748
02:28:32,520 --> 02:28:35,760
and get his blessing to become his
successor.

1749
02:28:36,800 --> 02:28:40,960
So this is not the moment Hitler
wants to see a rebellion

1750
02:28:40,960 --> 02:28:42,920
within his own cabinet.

1751
02:28:42,920 --> 02:28:46,240
Danger was that the army would link
up with Von Papen

1752
02:28:46,240 --> 02:28:49,640
and the Conservatives because they
saw very much eye-to-eye.

1753
02:28:49,640 --> 02:28:52,600
The senior generals themselves are
political conservatives,

1754
02:28:52,600 --> 02:28:54,680
they weren't Nazis at this stage,

1755
02:28:54,680 --> 02:28:58,440
and the danger was there'd be some
kind of Conservative coup.

1756
02:29:00,480 --> 02:29:04,200
Hitler convinces Papen to delay his
visit to see Hindenburg,

1757
02:29:04,200 --> 02:29:07,600
suggesting they make the trip
together instead.

1758
02:29:09,200 --> 02:29:15,440
He manages to run rings around Papen
because Papen suddenly loses

1759
02:29:15,440 --> 02:29:19,120
that ability to see the urgency of
the situation -

1760
02:29:19,120 --> 02:29:22,680
that he needs to get to East Prussia
to talk to Hindenburg.

1761
02:29:24,080 --> 02:29:26,720
If he moved at precisely that
moment,

1762
02:29:26,720 --> 02:29:29,080
he might be able to do something.

1763
02:29:29,080 --> 02:29:34,440
But, as it is, he loses that chance
and fails to seize the moment

1764
02:29:34,440 --> 02:29:37,280
which might have been actually
instrumental

1765
02:29:37,280 --> 02:29:38,920
in bringing Hitler down.

1766
02:29:45,520 --> 02:29:48,080
Hitler has played Papen cleverly.

1767
02:29:49,480 --> 02:29:51,280
Going behind his back,

1768
02:29:51,280 --> 02:29:55,240
Hitler arranges to meet with the
president at his country estate.

1769
02:29:56,800 --> 02:30:00,600
Hitler himself hotfoots it up to
Neudeck, in East Prussia,

1770
02:30:00,600 --> 02:30:04,160
to go and see Hindenburg and find
out what sort of state

1771
02:30:04,160 --> 02:30:07,600
his health's in and whether he's
likely to fall off the perch
quickly,

1772
02:30:07,600 --> 02:30:10,720
or whether they need to do something
about it fast.

1773
02:30:13,120 --> 02:30:17,560
Hindenburg and his generals issue
an ultimatum to Hitler to bring

1774
02:30:17,560 --> 02:30:21,640
the revolutionary troublemakers
under control or face martial law

1775
02:30:21,640 --> 02:30:24,120
and the transfer of power to the
army.

1776
02:30:24,120 --> 02:30:27,680
Hindenburg is pointing to the
Stormtroopers and saying,

1777
02:30:27,680 --> 02:30:28,880
"Enough is enough."

1778
02:30:30,120 --> 02:30:34,280
Hitler, now seeing that he is
slightly pinched on both sides,

1779
02:30:34,280 --> 02:30:38,240
both by the rebellious nature of
Papen...

1780
02:30:39,880 --> 02:30:43,000
..and the fact that the President,
who can dismiss him,

1781
02:30:43,000 --> 02:30:47,720
is looking angrily at him about the
Stormtroopers,

1782
02:30:47,720 --> 02:30:49,600
Hitler then decides to act.

1783
02:30:53,480 --> 02:30:58,200
And now Jung has created the crisis
and the man that capitalises

1784
02:30:58,200 --> 02:31:01,360
on the crisis is not Papen,

1785
02:31:01,360 --> 02:31:03,200
it's not Jung, it's Hitler.

1786
02:31:03,200 --> 02:31:06,480
And suddenly he realises that there
is more to this man,

1787
02:31:06,480 --> 02:31:09,080
that there is a real potential
problem here.

1788
02:31:10,520 --> 02:31:15,240
Papen has missed a historic
opportunity to stop Hitler.

1789
02:31:15,240 --> 02:31:19,480
Realising his life may now be in
danger, Jung starts planning

1790
02:31:19,480 --> 02:31:21,720
to flee the country.

1791
02:31:21,720 --> 02:31:24,120
Jung should have realised
immediately

1792
02:31:24,120 --> 02:31:25,760
that his plan is unravelling

1793
02:31:25,760 --> 02:31:29,080
and that potentially he himself
is personally in danger.

1794
02:31:34,400 --> 02:31:38,200
British intelligence has uncovered
that he is likely to be arrested

1795
02:31:38,200 --> 02:31:40,560
and he is warned by a British
journalist and a member

1796
02:31:40,560 --> 02:31:44,080
of the Reichstag that his arrest is
likely to be imminent.

1797
02:31:44,080 --> 02:31:47,240
Eventually, he concedes that perhaps
it is safer for him probably to get

1798
02:31:47,240 --> 02:31:49,000
to Switzerland at this point.

1799
02:31:52,400 --> 02:31:55,720
Hitler needs to now decide how to
deal with the two impending

1800
02:31:55,720 --> 02:31:57,840
threats to his power,

1801
02:31:57,840 --> 02:32:02,160
Rohm and the Stormtroopers, and the
aristocratic right

1802
02:32:02,160 --> 02:32:05,480
that could still yet persuade
Hindenburg to get rid of him.

1803
02:32:10,280 --> 02:32:12,120
Ready for this moment,

1804
02:32:12,120 --> 02:32:15,880
Himmler and the SS have been busy
inventing evidence...

1805
02:32:17,400 --> 02:32:21,440
..planting the seed of an idea that
Rohm and the elites have in fact

1806
02:32:21,440 --> 02:32:24,320
joined forces to launch a coup
against Hitler.

1807
02:32:31,280 --> 02:32:34,440
Himmler is working tirelessly in
June 1934...

1808
02:32:35,800 --> 02:32:40,480
..cos Himmler knows that this is a
now or never moment for himself,

1809
02:32:40,480 --> 02:32:44,960
for the SS, to win the upper hand
against the Stormtroopers

1810
02:32:44,960 --> 02:32:50,360
and to retaliate against members of
the conservative elite

1811
02:32:50,360 --> 02:32:52,920
who have expressed criticism of the
Nazis -

1812
02:32:52,920 --> 02:32:55,440
people like Jung, people like Papen.

1813
02:32:56,760 --> 02:33:02,680
Himmler created this dossier about
Rohm's alleged putsch plans

1814
02:33:02,680 --> 02:33:07,840
against Hitler. Rohm is planning a
putsch aided by the former

1815
02:33:07,840 --> 02:33:12,880
German Chancellor, Von Schleicher,
one of the archenemies of Hitler.

1816
02:33:12,880 --> 02:33:17,680
Himmler really manages to construct
this image of a conspiracy,

1817
02:33:17,680 --> 02:33:20,320
of a coalition between the
conservative right

1818
02:33:20,320 --> 02:33:21,760
and the Stormtroopers.

1819
02:33:21,760 --> 02:33:24,440
There was no such coalition.

1820
02:33:24,440 --> 02:33:27,040
All of these charges were completely
trumped up.

1821
02:33:27,040 --> 02:33:29,640
All of these charges are completely
trumped up.

1822
02:33:41,240 --> 02:33:46,280
Meanwhile, Himmler's Gestapo agents
burst into Jung's apartment

1823
02:33:46,280 --> 02:33:48,680
just as his bags are packed for
Switzerland.

1824
02:34:07,760 --> 02:34:10,600
When they arrest him, they do a
thorough search of his apartment

1825
02:34:10,600 --> 02:34:14,800
and they discover papers negotiating
the fee

1826
02:34:14,800 --> 02:34:17,200
he would get for writing that speech
from Papen,

1827
02:34:17,200 --> 02:34:18,640
so that is their evidence.

1828
02:34:18,640 --> 02:34:21,480
It's now clear that he is
the author of the Marburg speech.

1829
02:34:21,480 --> 02:34:24,080
He goes to the bathroom and he
actually scribbles "Gestapo"

1830
02:34:24,080 --> 02:34:27,360
on the bathroom cabinet - to warn
his friends what has happened.

1831
02:34:29,000 --> 02:34:34,200
With Jung in custody, Papen finally
understands what's at stake

1832
02:34:34,200 --> 02:34:36,280
and just who he's dealing with.

1833
02:34:36,280 --> 02:34:42,520
Papen hears that Edgar Jung has been
arrested and flies to Berlin

1834
02:34:42,520 --> 02:34:45,240
and demands an audience with Hitler.

1835
02:34:45,240 --> 02:34:47,040
Hitler refuses to see him.

1836
02:34:47,040 --> 02:34:50,560
At this point,
Papen sees the urgency

1837
02:34:50,560 --> 02:34:55,320
of visiting Hindenburg and arranges
to meet him

1838
02:34:55,320 --> 02:34:57,920
in Neudeck, in East Prussia.

1839
02:34:57,920 --> 02:35:00,280
This is a critical moment.

1840
02:35:00,280 --> 02:35:03,960
Hindenburg's health has taken a turn
for the worse.

1841
02:35:03,960 --> 02:35:08,200
If Papen is to stop Hitler, he must
get to Hindenburg immediately.

1842
02:35:16,280 --> 02:35:21,840
But news of Papen's meeting reaches
Himmler, who is readying the SS

1843
02:35:21,840 --> 02:35:26,160
to strike against the aristocracy
and the Stormtroopers.

1844
02:35:27,920 --> 02:35:32,880
Himmler summons SS leaders and he
tells them that the Stormtroopers

1845
02:35:32,880 --> 02:35:37,720
are planning a putsch. Robust action
must be taken swiftly, ruthlessly

1846
02:35:37,720 --> 02:35:42,120
and decisively, so Himmler and the
SS are beginning to prepare lists

1847
02:35:42,120 --> 02:35:45,960
of Stormtroopers who are to be
arrested, who are to be executed.

1848
02:35:53,680 --> 02:35:56,920
But even as the time to act draws
near,

1849
02:35:56,920 --> 02:36:00,440
Hitler seems to remain loyal to
Rohm.

1850
02:36:01,720 --> 02:36:03,840
And Rohm promises to lie low.

1851
02:36:05,160 --> 02:36:09,640
He takes leave at the Bavarian
lakeside resort of Tegernsee.

1852
02:36:20,240 --> 02:36:25,200
Rohm leaves Berlin for Bavaria,
Tegernsee,

1853
02:36:25,200 --> 02:36:29,120
where he stays in a nice hotel,

1854
02:36:29,120 --> 02:36:32,200
and Rohm feels...

1855
02:36:33,800 --> 02:36:35,760
..not very well.

1856
02:36:35,760 --> 02:36:42,320
He had has problems with his health
and he is...

1857
02:36:42,320 --> 02:36:46,040
..very thoughtful during this time.

1858
02:36:46,040 --> 02:36:52,600
He is very, kind of, remote and this
is definitely not a time for him

1859
02:36:52,600 --> 02:36:58,240
to party or to celebrate.
He seems to think about his future.

1860
02:37:09,960 --> 02:37:12,640
Opposition inside and outside
the Nazi Party

1861
02:37:12,640 --> 02:37:14,360
must now be annihilated...

1862
02:37:15,920 --> 02:37:19,480
..but Goring and Himmler still need
word from Hitler

1863
02:37:19,480 --> 02:37:22,560
before they can move against their
enemies.

1864
02:37:29,880 --> 02:37:31,720
On the 28th of June,

1865
02:37:31,720 --> 02:37:36,920
Hitler and Goring go to the wedding
of a local Gauleiter.

1866
02:37:36,920 --> 02:37:41,400
It's a normal ceremony for Hitler to
attend.

1867
02:37:43,680 --> 02:37:46,080
The conspirators have devised a plan

1868
02:37:46,080 --> 02:37:49,520
to psychologically prepare Hitler
to take action.

1869
02:37:59,840 --> 02:38:03,080
In the middle of the wedding,

1870
02:38:03,080 --> 02:38:05,520
there's a moment of drama.

1871
02:38:09,400 --> 02:38:13,000
Himmler arrives and this is the
point at which

1872
02:38:13,000 --> 02:38:16,600
they're going to tell Hitler about
the dangers that he's facing.

1873
02:38:28,320 --> 02:38:32,000
Himmler comes in with the news
that Papen...

1874
02:38:33,960 --> 02:38:38,240
..is about to see
President von Hindenburg

1875
02:38:38,240 --> 02:38:40,880
on his estate in East Prussia.

1876
02:38:40,880 --> 02:38:43,840
This raises the alarm for Hitler.

1877
02:38:45,760 --> 02:38:48,520
Hitler is extremely concerned that,
if he doesn't act swiftly

1878
02:38:48,520 --> 02:38:51,560
against the Stormtroopers, now that
he knows that Papen

1879
02:38:51,560 --> 02:38:54,680
will be seen by Hindenburg,
then Hindenburg might stop

1880
02:38:54,680 --> 02:38:59,760
supporting the Nazi regime, that
Hitler might lose some of his power,

1881
02:38:59,760 --> 02:39:02,400
that the army might be given some
more power.

1882
02:39:05,280 --> 02:39:10,440
To give him a final push, Hitler is
shown documents that allege Rohm

1883
02:39:10,440 --> 02:39:14,320
and the Stormtroopers are plotting
against him.

1884
02:39:14,320 --> 02:39:18,320
I think, for Hitler, it's a
difficult moment, psychologically,

1885
02:39:18,320 --> 02:39:22,000
to confront the fact that Rohm could
be...

1886
02:39:23,440 --> 02:39:28,800
..guilty of plotting against Hitler,
plotting against the regime.

1887
02:39:30,720 --> 02:39:34,080
Having two people there prodding
him, providing him with

1888
02:39:34,080 --> 02:39:36,840
what was in fact rather spurious
evidence

1889
02:39:36,840 --> 02:39:39,000
about the possibility of a coup,

1890
02:39:39,000 --> 02:39:43,040
is, for Hitler, really necessary,
you know?

1891
02:39:43,040 --> 02:39:46,480
He needs to have his indecision
ended.

1892
02:39:46,480 --> 02:39:48,640
He needs somebody to prod him...

1893
02:39:50,120 --> 02:39:52,440
..but then it needs to be his
decision.

1894
02:40:00,600 --> 02:40:02,440
So, he's prodded and prodded and
prodded

1895
02:40:02,440 --> 02:40:04,160
and suddenly says, "Yes, that's it."

1896
02:40:04,160 --> 02:40:05,600
You know, "I've had enough."

1897
02:40:05,600 --> 02:40:09,000
And what follows is, you know,
can be described only,

1898
02:40:09,000 --> 02:40:10,840
really, as mafia politics.

1899
02:40:26,120 --> 02:40:32,680
Hitler travels through the night to
personally arrest Rohm at his hotel.

1900
02:40:39,400 --> 02:40:44,760
Rohm doesn't expect Hitler coming,

1901
02:40:44,760 --> 02:40:49,200
practically with all members of the
inner circle,

1902
02:40:49,200 --> 02:40:50,640
to arrest him.

1903
02:40:54,240 --> 02:40:57,600
As far as we know,
Rohm was really stunned.

1904
02:40:57,600 --> 02:41:01,840
He was very quiet during this time
of arrest.

1905
02:41:04,680 --> 02:41:09,520
Rohm just sat there and it seems

1906
02:41:09,520 --> 02:41:14,760
as if Rohm still feels very
confident...

1907
02:41:15,880 --> 02:41:18,880
..that there is no danger for him,
personally.

1908
02:41:26,440 --> 02:41:31,880
Meanwhile, Goring and Himmler are
poised for action in Berlin.

1909
02:41:35,120 --> 02:41:39,120
Goring and Himmler have returned to
Berlin from Essen, from the wedding.

1910
02:41:39,120 --> 02:41:42,040
They lock themselves away in the
Leipzig Palace,

1911
02:41:42,040 --> 02:41:46,760
they surround it with armed guards,
just in case there really is

1912
02:41:46,760 --> 02:41:49,000
an attack from the Stormtroopers.

1913
02:41:50,600 --> 02:41:54,080
Himmler, in this situation,
is very cool.

1914
02:41:54,080 --> 02:41:56,600
He's very calculated.

1915
02:41:56,600 --> 02:41:58,080
He is patient.

1916
02:41:58,080 --> 02:42:01,640
He knows that he needs to wait for
the order

1917
02:42:01,640 --> 02:42:03,640
of the Fuhrer to come through.

1918
02:42:12,120 --> 02:42:16,120
At 10.00am, Goring and Himmler
receive the code word.

1919
02:42:18,120 --> 02:42:23,800
Then, throughout Germany,
sealed orders are opened by SS men -

1920
02:42:23,800 --> 02:42:26,120
revealing lists of their victims.

1921
02:42:33,040 --> 02:42:37,040
Goring is the kind of impresario of
the drama and Himmler, once again,

1922
02:42:37,040 --> 02:42:38,560
is the obedient secretary,

1923
02:42:38,560 --> 02:42:41,800
carrying everything out that needs
to be carried out.

1924
02:42:41,800 --> 02:42:45,720
Himmler is coordinating the arrests
and executions in Berlin

1925
02:42:45,720 --> 02:42:49,480
together with Goring. They go
through lists, they go through lists

1926
02:42:49,480 --> 02:42:52,720
of who's to be arrested,
of who is to be shot.

1927
02:42:53,840 --> 02:42:55,240
The killing begins.

1928
02:43:00,240 --> 02:43:02,440
GUNSHOTS

1929
02:43:07,520 --> 02:43:11,640
Former Chancellor Kurt von
Schleicher is murdered at home,

1930
02:43:11,640 --> 02:43:13,400
alongside his wife.

1931
02:43:19,360 --> 02:43:22,600
Rebel Nazis, who once threatened to
split the party,

1932
02:43:22,600 --> 02:43:24,560
are also taken care of.

1933
02:43:30,320 --> 02:43:33,640
The men in Papen's office are also
on the list.

1934
02:43:39,520 --> 02:43:41,920
Papen is arrested and placed under
house arrest.

1935
02:43:41,920 --> 02:43:46,560
He can't do anything to act,
to save the members

1936
02:43:46,560 --> 02:43:50,200
of his own department, and various
people in his entourage

1937
02:43:50,200 --> 02:43:54,360
are, essentially, murdered.
He is lucky, in many respects,

1938
02:43:54,360 --> 02:43:56,280
to survive with his life.

1939
02:44:01,680 --> 02:44:05,480
All we know with Jung is that he is
executed.

1940
02:44:09,360 --> 02:44:11,720
The place of death is left
unrecorded,

1941
02:44:11,720 --> 02:44:14,200
which is a mark of disrespect,
as well,

1942
02:44:14,200 --> 02:44:17,200
and sometime later his family
receive his ashes

1943
02:44:17,200 --> 02:44:18,880
and his empty wallet.

1944
02:44:18,880 --> 02:44:20,680
That is the end of Jung.

1945
02:44:27,080 --> 02:44:29,640
It sounds very bizarre to us,
but Himmler is guided

1946
02:44:29,640 --> 02:44:31,280
by a different moral compass.

1947
02:44:31,280 --> 02:44:35,200
Himmler believes that it is
necessary for the survival

1948
02:44:35,200 --> 02:44:39,400
of the Nazi regime to act so
ruthlessly against the people

1949
02:44:39,400 --> 02:44:44,040
on the list of those to be arrested,
of those to be executed.

1950
02:44:44,040 --> 02:44:46,320
For Himmler, it is an office job
routine.

1951
02:44:46,320 --> 02:44:49,120
For at least 100 people
who were murdered

1952
02:44:49,120 --> 02:44:52,440
in the aftermath of the Night of the
Long Knives...

1953
02:44:54,160 --> 02:44:55,960
..this was the end of their lives.

1954
02:44:59,360 --> 02:45:01,720
By the evening of June the 30th,

1955
02:45:01,720 --> 02:45:04,160
dozens have been executed.

1956
02:45:04,160 --> 02:45:07,400
Any possible conservative or
Stormtrooper rebellion

1957
02:45:07,400 --> 02:45:08,640
has been crushed.

1958
02:45:09,920 --> 02:45:13,120
Still alive, though, is Hitler's
friend -

1959
02:45:13,120 --> 02:45:14,640
Ernst Rohm.

1960
02:45:41,160 --> 02:45:43,240
almost as if nothing had happened.

1961
02:45:47,160 --> 02:45:49,960
It curiously resembled, I think,
the way that some murderers,

1962
02:45:49,960 --> 02:45:52,720
when they've murdered somebody,
they wash their hands,

1963
02:45:52,720 --> 02:45:55,760
they change their clothes, they want
to put all that behind them

1964
02:45:55,760 --> 02:45:57,720
and then they can walk out into the
streets -

1965
02:45:57,720 --> 02:45:59,240
as if nothing had happened.

1966
02:46:02,240 --> 02:46:04,320
This is a really incongruous scene.

1967
02:46:04,320 --> 02:46:08,040
Imagine that some of the bloodiest
murders in the history

1968
02:46:08,040 --> 02:46:11,480
of the Third Reich have taken place
on the previous day.

1969
02:46:11,480 --> 02:46:14,360
Now, Hitler has invited members of
the Reich cabinet

1970
02:46:14,360 --> 02:46:16,320
and their wives to a party.

1971
02:46:22,600 --> 02:46:26,880
Himmler and Goring learned that Rohm
has not been executed.

1972
02:46:29,600 --> 02:46:32,360
He's an old companion, old fighter,

1973
02:46:32,360 --> 02:46:36,760
and he just can't bring himself to
order Rohm to be murdered.

1974
02:46:39,240 --> 02:46:42,880
So it's one of those occasions where
Hitler hesitates and he needs

1975
02:46:42,880 --> 02:46:47,240
other people to prod him again into
making that decision.

1976
02:46:47,240 --> 02:46:49,400
And for Goring and Himmler,
it's really important.

1977
02:46:49,400 --> 02:46:51,440
You know, the whole thing was to
get rid of Rohm!

1978
02:46:51,440 --> 02:46:54,520
So they've got to get Hitler to make
the decision

1979
02:46:54,520 --> 02:46:56,680
that Rohm must be executed, too.

1980
02:47:04,320 --> 02:47:06,480
As with other major decisions,

1981
02:47:06,480 --> 02:47:10,400
Hitler has waited for the crucial
moment to play his hand.

1982
02:47:15,600 --> 02:47:18,920
Hitler was always prepared to use
violent action in the end.

1983
02:47:18,920 --> 02:47:22,480
He didn't have any hesitation about
having people shot, killed,

1984
02:47:22,480 --> 02:47:25,520
murdered, robbed, beaten up or
tortured -

1985
02:47:25,520 --> 02:47:27,360
it didn't really matter to him.

1986
02:47:30,680 --> 02:47:34,600
In that sense, the so-called Rohm
putsch,

1987
02:47:34,600 --> 02:47:37,680
the murder of scores of people

1988
02:47:37,680 --> 02:47:41,120
he regarded as traitors to the
cause,

1989
02:47:41,120 --> 02:47:44,720
that wasn't particularly something
that he felt was bad.

1990
02:47:44,720 --> 02:47:46,880
He felt, by this stage, he was above
the law.

1991
02:47:46,880 --> 02:47:49,720
In a sense, he'd always felt he was
above the law.

1992
02:47:54,960 --> 02:47:57,440
Hitler's decision is to offer Rohm

1993
02:47:57,440 --> 02:47:59,040
the honourable way out.

1994
02:48:08,240 --> 02:48:10,200
At Stadelheim Prison,

1995
02:48:10,200 --> 02:48:13,560
Rohm is forced to make a terrible
choice.

1996
02:48:16,440 --> 02:48:19,080
For Rohm, it must have been
astonishing, then,

1997
02:48:19,080 --> 02:48:24,000
to see Theodor Eicke, who is the

1998
02:48:24,000 --> 02:48:29,080
commander of the
Dachau concentration camp.

1999
02:48:38,120 --> 02:48:41,640
A pistol is put into Rohm's cell,

2000
02:48:41,640 --> 02:48:45,720
together with a copy of the
Volkischer Beobachter Nazi
newspaper,

2001
02:48:45,720 --> 02:48:48,440
with stories about the Rohm purge,

2002
02:48:48,440 --> 02:48:50,440
about Rohm's alleged conspiracy.

2003
02:49:01,840 --> 02:49:03,840
I wouldn't see Rohm as a victim.

2004
02:49:03,840 --> 02:49:07,960
He himself, and he says this very
openly,

2005
02:49:07,960 --> 02:49:12,120
he himself would kill people,
would kill his enemies.

2006
02:49:13,400 --> 02:49:15,640
Killing was no problem for Rohm.

2007
02:49:23,720 --> 02:49:26,480
Rohm does not want to shoot himself.

2008
02:49:29,520 --> 02:49:31,520
So, after ten minutes,

2009
02:49:31,520 --> 02:49:35,960
the commander of the Dachau camp,
Theodor Eicke,

2010
02:49:35,960 --> 02:49:41,240
storms into Rohm's cell and shoots
him at close range.

2011
02:49:41,240 --> 02:49:43,280
GUNSHOT

2012
02:49:58,720 --> 02:50:01,000
This is the end of the Night of the
Long Knives.

2013
02:50:01,000 --> 02:50:02,880
This is the end of Rohm.

2014
02:50:02,880 --> 02:50:05,240
This is the end of the leader of the
Stormtroopers,

2015
02:50:05,240 --> 02:50:08,080
who was, until then, Hitler's
closest ally,

2016
02:50:08,080 --> 02:50:10,760
Hitler's closest supporter.

2017
02:50:23,440 --> 02:50:28,160
Hitler was always relieved after
he'd made up his mind

2018
02:50:28,160 --> 02:50:32,720
on a difficult issue and taken
action -

2019
02:50:32,720 --> 02:50:35,880
that gave him a sense of relief and
fulfilment.

2020
02:50:35,880 --> 02:50:39,080
He knew, he felt in his bones,
that he had solved

2021
02:50:39,080 --> 02:50:41,000
a really difficult problem.

2022
02:50:44,480 --> 02:50:45,840
This is it.

2023
02:50:45,840 --> 02:50:48,280
This is the end of this period of
seizing power

2024
02:50:48,280 --> 02:50:50,320
and establishing power.

2025
02:50:50,320 --> 02:50:54,480
Now we can move forward as one
united government, state,

2026
02:50:54,480 --> 02:50:56,240
people under my command.

2027
02:51:21,640 --> 02:51:24,240
Goring finally achieves his
ambition.

2028
02:51:25,440 --> 02:51:27,920
As a reward for his brutality,

2029
02:51:27,920 --> 02:51:32,000
Hitler promotes him and names him as
his successor.

2030
02:51:33,600 --> 02:51:37,200
He will go on to oversee many of the
Nazis' worst atrocities.

2031
02:51:42,520 --> 02:51:46,360
Later on, at Nuremberg, when Goring
is on trial for war crimes,

2032
02:51:46,360 --> 02:51:49,480
he's asked about Rohm, "What did you
think? Why did you do it?"

2033
02:51:49,480 --> 02:51:51,680
He said, "Well, he was in my way."

2034
02:51:51,680 --> 02:51:53,840
For Goring, you know,
it wasn't a question

2035
02:51:53,840 --> 02:51:55,720
I think he would have understood.

2036
02:51:55,720 --> 02:51:58,000
You know, "Did you have a guilty
conscience afterwards?"

2037
02:51:58,000 --> 02:51:59,560
"No, of course not."

2038
02:52:02,080 --> 02:52:05,000
After the Night of the Long Knives,

2039
02:52:05,000 --> 02:52:08,240
Hitler makes the SS a
fully autonomous organisation.

2040
02:52:09,920 --> 02:52:11,560
Under Himmler's watch,

2041
02:52:11,560 --> 02:52:15,400
it becomes one of the most feared
institutions in Germany,

2042
02:52:15,400 --> 02:52:18,920
presiding over the systematic murder
of minorities,

2043
02:52:18,920 --> 02:52:22,200
homosexuals and Jews.

2044
02:52:22,200 --> 02:52:24,800
One of the keys to understanding
Himmler's personality

2045
02:52:24,800 --> 02:52:29,680
and Himmler's career is by
reflecting about the word "decency".

2046
02:52:30,960 --> 02:52:35,120
Himmler thought that he had always
been acting decently,

2047
02:52:35,120 --> 02:52:37,600
that, in organising the Night of
Long Knives

2048
02:52:37,600 --> 02:52:40,520
had been decent, that killing Jews
during the Second World War

2049
02:52:40,520 --> 02:52:43,560
had been decent. This is abhorrent.

2050
02:52:43,560 --> 02:52:47,680
Himmler thought that he had done the
right thing

2051
02:52:47,680 --> 02:52:49,960
for the survival of the Germanic
race.

2052
02:52:54,160 --> 02:52:57,080
By crushing the Stormtroopers,

2053
02:52:57,080 --> 02:53:01,360
Hitler wins the support of most of
the German public,

2054
02:53:01,360 --> 02:53:04,760
the army, the elites,

2055
02:53:04,760 --> 02:53:06,600
and President Hindenburg.

2056
02:53:11,480 --> 02:53:17,720
Hindenburg was always frightened of
instability.

2057
02:53:17,720 --> 02:53:23,080
So, when action is taken in this
way, erm...

2058
02:53:23,080 --> 02:53:27,320
..I suppose, I don't know,
a fit of relief or something

2059
02:53:27,320 --> 02:53:31,320
and pens a letter to Hitler, saying,
basically, "Well done."

2060
02:53:33,480 --> 02:53:36,200
Having won Hindenburg's approval,

2061
02:53:36,200 --> 02:53:39,760
Hitler presents a new piece of
legislation

2062
02:53:39,760 --> 02:53:43,040
combining the offices of President
and Chancellor

2063
02:53:43,040 --> 02:53:45,840
to take effect on Hindenburg's
death.

2064
02:53:49,480 --> 02:53:54,200
A day later, Hindenburg is on his
deathbed.

2065
02:53:54,200 --> 02:53:57,000
When Hitler goes to pay his
respects,

2066
02:53:57,000 --> 02:54:00,840
he finds Hindenburg drifting in and
out of consciousness,

2067
02:54:00,840 --> 02:54:03,440
addressing him as "Your Majesty".

2068
02:54:06,600 --> 02:54:12,440
I'm dubious about his ability to
make rational judgment

2069
02:54:12,440 --> 02:54:14,320
as he approached his death.

2070
02:54:16,040 --> 02:54:21,560
Might explain some of the very
difficult questions

2071
02:54:21,560 --> 02:54:24,960
regarding his shift

2072
02:54:24,960 --> 02:54:27,440
vis-a-vis Hitler and the Nazi Party.

2073
02:54:33,400 --> 02:54:35,760
In his last rational moments,

2074
02:54:35,760 --> 02:54:40,320
what did he think of when he thought
about Germany's future?

2075
02:54:40,320 --> 02:54:42,280
Difficult to answer that one.

2076
02:54:44,320 --> 02:54:48,640
He would want to vindicate his own
decisions,

2077
02:54:48,640 --> 02:54:51,400
but he may be disturbed by...

2078
02:54:52,720 --> 02:54:55,880
..what has happened since Hitler
took office.

2079
02:54:58,520 --> 02:55:00,520
So he might have died a...

2080
02:55:01,960 --> 02:55:03,680
..rather troubled man.

2081
02:55:20,080 --> 02:55:25,960
And so Hitler now had nothing left
to restrain him.

2082
02:55:25,960 --> 02:55:31,840
TRIUMPHANT MUSIC IS PLAYED

2083
02:55:55,800 --> 02:55:58,840
CANNONS FIRE