Germany 20th Century

01: Helped into Power | Nazis: A Warning from History

Documentary series examining how Hitler came to power. By January 1933, Germany had voted for a chancellor who was open...

02: Chaos and Consent | Nazis: A Warning from History

A look at the extraordinary popularity of both Hitler and the Nazis, as well as the astonishing degree of voluntary sup...

S01E02: Hitler's Last Days | Days That Shook the World

A dramatised anatomy of the final hours of Adolf Hitler, based on accounts of five witnesses who were in a secret unde...

20: Genocide | The World at War

This edition recounts Himmler's plans to realise Hitler's vision of a pure Aryan Germany. Narrated by Laurence Olivier.

S01E03: Night of the Long Knives | Rise of the Nazis

Threatened by the ambition of SA leader Ernst Röhm, Hitler is persuaded by Himmler to destroy Röhm and his stormtroopers...

The Reichstag fire and the Enabling Act | Rise of the Nazis

Goring blames the communists for the Reichstag fire, giving Rohm and the SA an excuse to arrest what is left of t...

01: Surprise Beginnings | Auschwitz: the Nazis and the Final Solution

Explores the beginnings of Auschwitz, and how the camp was originally intended for a purpose very diffe...

S01E01: Politics | Rise of the Nazis

Delving into the corridors of power where Germany's top political mastermind sees an opportunity to use the popularity of the Nazis for ...

03: Factories of Death | Auschwitz: the Nazis and the Final Solution

With the increase in killing at Auschwitz and nearby Treblinka, people are showing tremendous courage, l...

The creation of the Gestapo | Rise of the Nazis

Himmler and Goring fight for control of the newly formed Gestapo, responsible for the preventative arrest of Jews, political ...

S01E02: The First Six Months in Power | Rise of the Nazis

At the start of 1933, Hitler is the chancellor of Germany, but he does not have absolute power. He sets his sights ...

06: Liberation and Revenge | Auschwitz: the Nazis and the Final Solution

Last in series about the Nazi concentration camp looks at the fate of the remaining prisoners and th...

01: A New Germany | The World at War

Laurence Olivier narrates the acclaimed documentary series telling the story of World War II. Stricken by humiliating defeat and emergin...

05: Frenzied Killing | Auschwitz: the Nazis and the Final Solution

The deportation of Hungary's Jews in 1944 precipitated the most intensive slaughter in Auschwitz's history.

Downfall | Der Untergang (2004)

As defeat looms, the increasingly unhinged Adolf Hitler readies himself for the end and makes his final declarations to a dwindling crowd of ...

Reflections on Hitler's rise to power | Rise of the Nazis

Hitler was finally appointed Chancellor in 1933, in a move that marked the downfall of German democracy.

03: In the Shadow of Hitler | Art of Germany

Andrew Graham-Dixon concludes his exploration of German art by investigating the dark times of the 20th century, dominated by fa...

S02E03: The Home Front | Rise of the Nazis

Facing defeat on the Eastern Front, Hitler retreats, and his inner circle vies for power. The resistance gets a student voice, and...

Himmler and the SS | Rise of the Nazis

Himmler and the black shirts (the SS) arrest thousands of political prisoners, and open the first 're-education' camp in Dachau.

How Hitler becomes Chancellor | Rise of the Nazis

A coalition between von Papen and the Nazis lead to Hindenburg finally agreeing to appoint Hitler as Chancellor.

01: Helped into Power | Nazis: A Warning from History

Documentary series examining how Hitler came to power. By January 1933, Germany had voted for a chancellor who was open...

Nazi Germany: 03: The Master Race | History File

Using evidence from five people who lived through the rise of National Socialism, this takes a look at why Germany fell into...

Nazi Germany: 04: Youth in Hitler's Germany | History File

Using evidence from five people who lived through the rise of National Socialism, this takes a look at why Germany...

Nazi Germany: 01: The Rise of Hitler | History File

Using evidence from five people who lived through the rise of National Socialism, this takes a look at why Germany fell i...

02: Chaos and Consent | Nazis: A Warning from History

A look at the extraordinary popularity of both Hitler and the Nazis, as well as the astonishing degree of voluntary sup...

Episode 1 | The Dark Charisma of Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler seemed an unlikely leader, yet was once loved by millions. How was this possible, and what role did Hitler's alleg...

Nazi Germany: 02: Life in Hitler's Germany | History File

Using evidence from five people who lived through the rise of National Socialism, this takes a look at why Germany ...

Nazi Germany: 05: Opposition to Hitler | History File

Using evidence from five people who lived through the rise of National Socialism, this takes a look at why Germany fell...

Episode 1 | Hitler's Rise: The Colour Films

Hitler's Rise: The Colour Films follow the Führer's rise to power, which was as unforeseeable as it was catastrophic. This first ...

S01E03: Night of the Long Knives | Rise of the Nazis

Threatened by the ambition of SA leader Ernst Röhm, Hitler is persuaded by Himmler to destroy Röhm and his stormtroopers...

The Treaty of Versailles | Hitler's Rise: The Colour Films

Footage from Hitler's rise to power has been transformed into colour using digital techniques. This clip shows how...

The Reichstag fire and the Enabling Act | Rise of the Nazis

Goring blames the communists for the Reichstag fire, giving Rohm and the SA an excuse to arrest what is left of t...

S01E01: Politics | Rise of the Nazis

Delving into the corridors of power where Germany's top political mastermind sees an opportunity to use the popularity of the Nazis for ...

The creation of the Gestapo | Rise of the Nazis

Himmler and Goring fight for control of the newly formed Gestapo, responsible for the preventative arrest of Jews, political ...

German economics and the rise of the Nazis | Nazis: A Warning from History

How unemployment and the German economy in the early 1930's contributed to the popularity of the N...

S01E02: The First Six Months in Power | Rise of the Nazis

At the start of 1933, Hitler is the chancellor of Germany, but he does not have absolute power. He sets his sights ...

09: 1933: Master Race | People's Century

The Third Reich brings barbarity to the modern era. Germany is rebuilt through huge public works program, winning Hitler adulation f...

Beginnings of the Nazi Party | Hitler's Rise: The Colour Films

Footage from Hitler's rise to power has been transformed into colour using digital techniques. Here, the begin...

01: A New Germany | The World at War

Laurence Olivier narrates the acclaimed documentary series telling the story of World War II. Stricken by humiliating defeat and emergin...

04: Hitler's Germany 1933-36 | Twentieth Century History

History programme for schools looking at Germany under Adolf Hitler's rule during the period of 1933 to 1936.

S01E05: The Fall of the Berlin Wall | Days That Shook the World

Exploring the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 from the perspective of a Checkpoint Charlie Stasi guard comman...

11: The Cold War Confrontation | Twentieth Century History

The Berlin blockade of 1948-49 and the Korean War 1950-53.

The Secret Life of the Berlin Wall

Documentary exploring the story of the Berlin Wall, uncovering a world of flawed heroes and heroic villains, compromised victories and sad...

04: Berlin: 1948-1949 | Cold War

By 1947, the United States placed as a high priority the revival of the German economy, an approach opposed by the Soviet Union. After the i...

23: The Wall Comes Down: 1989 | Cold War

Gorbachev makes clear Eastern European countries were free to determine their own destinies. In Poland Solidarity enters into negoti...

The Lives of OthersDas Leben der Anderen (2006)

Oscar-winning drama set in 1980s East Germany about a Stasi agent, employed to spy on a dramatist and his lover, who becomes ...

Korean War | Twentieth Century History

An explanation of how the Korean war unfolded.

Fall of the Berlin Wall | Newsnight

As the Berlin Wall starts to be taken apart as rapidly as it arose, Peter Snow and Olenka Frenkiel report from the city on how people on ...

08: The Fatal Competition | The Age of Uncertainty

JK Galbraith visits the ruins of postwar Berlin, the corridors of power in the Pentagon and 'the world's largest used plan...

Post-war Berlin | Twentieth Century History

An explanation of how the allies aided Berlin in its post-war recovery.

S04E03: The Reckoning | Rise of the Nazis

As the Cold War escalates, most Nazi hunting is abandoned. Suddenly, Nazis are able to return to normal life or find refuge oversea...

S04E02: The Ratline | Rise of the Nazis

As the Cold War escalates, most Nazi hunting is abandoned. Suddenly, Nazis are able to return to normal life or find refuge overseas....

07: After Stalin: 1953-1956 | Cold War

Nikita Khrushchev becomes Soviet leader after the death of Stalin. Khrushchev rolls back a number of oppressive measures that existed ...

The Children of the Holocaust

Powerful animated films, in which elderly Jewish Holocaust survivors tell their stories of Nazi persecution in their childhood and how they esc...

S01E06: Kristallnacht | Days That Shook the World

Two days defined the fortunes of 20th-century Jews: Kristallnacht on September 9, 1938, a turning point in Nazi persecution...

Nazi Germany: 03: The Master Race | History File

Using evidence from five people who lived through the rise of National Socialism, this takes a look at why Germany fell into...

Nazi Germany: 04: Youth in Hitler's Germany | History File

Using evidence from five people who lived through the rise of National Socialism, this takes a look at why Germany...

God on Trial (2008)

In a block house in Auschwitz, a group of prisoners demand to know the nature of a God who can allow so much suffering. They attempt to settle their disp...

Nazi Germany: 01: The Rise of Hitler | History File

Using evidence from five people who lived through the rise of National Socialism, this takes a look at why Germany fell i...

How the Holocaust Began

Historian James Bulgin reveals the origins of the Holocaust in the German invasion of the Soviet Union, exploring the mass murder, collaboration and ...

Nazi Germany: 02: Life in Hitler's Germany | History File

Using evidence from five people who lived through the rise of National Socialism, this takes a look at why Germany ...

What Happened at Auschwitz | What Happened at..?

In a documentary marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, journalist Jordan Dunbar meets surviv...

The Holocaust: A Story of Remembrance

In this film to mark Holocaust Memorial Day, three extraordinary women tell their powerful personal stories. Auschwitz survivor Kitty H...

Nazi Germany: 05: Opposition to Hitler | History File

Using evidence from five people who lived through the rise of National Socialism, this takes a look at why Germany fell...

Simon Schama: The Road to Auschwitz

In the most personal and unflinching film of his career, historian Simon Schama confronts the Holocaust as not just a Nazi obsession but ...

Conspiracy: The Meeting at Wannsee (2001)

At the Wannsee Conference on January 20, 1942, senior Nazi officials meet to determine the manner in which the so-called ''Final So...

The Era of the Second World War: 04: Living Under Axis Rule | History File

This programme looks at the impact of the war on the civilians in different countries and the cho...

05: The Road to Treblinka | Nazis: A Warning from History

Documentary showing how the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941 was a crucial catalyst for the radicalis...

01: Surprise Beginnings | Auschwitz: the Nazis and the Final Solution

Explores the beginnings of Auschwitz, and how the camp was originally intended for a purpose very diffe...

03: Factories of Death | Auschwitz: the Nazis and the Final Solution

With the increase in killing at Auschwitz and nearby Treblinka, people are showing tremendous courage, l...

The Windermere Children: In Their Own Words

Documentary about the pioneering project, in 1945, to rehabilitate child survivors of the Holocaust on the shores of Lake Winderm...

The Night of the Broken Glass | Nazis: A Warning from History

Kristallnacht or The Night of the Broken Glass took place in November 1938, in which SA paramilitary forces and...

Episode 1 | My Family, the Holocaust and Me

Robert Rinder meets two British Jewish families who have been affected by the Holocaust and want to know what happened to their r...

02: Make Germany Pay | Twentieth Century History

A schools feature about how the Treaty of Versailles affected Germany in the 1920s after their defeat in World War One.

The First World War: 06: Making Germany Pay | History File

In this section we look at the traumatic years of the Weimar Republic and the years 1918 to 1929.

The end of WW1 | Nazis: A Warning from History

The ideological division of Germany at the end of the First World War.

03: In the Shadow of Hitler | Art of Germany

Andrew Graham-Dixon concludes his exploration of German art by investigating the dark times of the 20th century, dominated by fa...

Opposition to the Weimar Republic | Nazis: A Warning from History

While the Weimar Republic boomed under borrowed money, non-political groups such as the Wandervogel were fo...

White Defence League | Panorama

Panorama reports on the ultra-right wing White Defence League and the response to its call for mass non-white repatriation. The programme spe...