Subtitles Edited By: .: Pedyspider :.
>> narrator: it was 1938.
This footage, never before seen,
Was shot by an american family
Vacationing in germany.
Their home movie captured the
Glory of hitler's third reich.
One nation.
One people.
United behind one leader.
And poised to conquer the world.
>> woman: no longer does a german
Need to be ashamed to be german.
We once again have our honor.
>> narrator: but in the end,
The third reich would bring
Every german eternal shame.
>> man: you mark my words...
If we are defeated...
We will be given no quarter.
We will be starved to death
Or butchered.
That will be the fate of every german...
Whether he is a nazi or not.
>> narrator: these are their words...
Their films.
This is the fall...
Of the third reich.
It was september of 1938.
For weeks, germans like else klamroth
And her family
Have lived under the threat of war.
At the time of her daughter
Wibke's birth, hitler demanded
That a portion of czechoslovakia
Be returned to germany.
Instead of fighting,
On september 29, the european
Powers gave it to him.
Now, wibke's father wouldn't be
Going to war after all.
>> klamroth: hitler has won a
Massive victory without a battle.
Faith and admiration of our
Great fuhrer have strengthened
And deepened even when i thought
That was no longer possible.
>>ebermayer: nobody wants war.
Everyone is doing so well.
We're earning money!
We have a car...
A refrigerator...
A record player.
What is the point of war?
>> man: "do you remember germany
In the days before adolf hitler?
Tens of thousands of factories
Had closed their gates.
Millions of workers lost their jobs.
Now the nations around us look
With amazement when they see the
Unprecedented economic growth
That has occurred in germany
Over the past five years.
The german miracle.
>> narrator: the miracle was
Being financed in part by land
And raw material stolen from
Other countries.
But if you were german, what
Mattered to you was that there
Was regular work and even
State-subsidized leisure.
>> woman: it was our first real holiday.
Six meals a day; lots of courses at lunch
Served by uniformed waiters.
There was music, dancing,
New films and lectures.
Before only the rich could do that.
>> narrator: but not everyone
Experienced the german miracle.
This cruise liner, the st. louis,
Took workers and nazi
Party leaders on excursions to
Italy, norway and the west indies.
Soon, the st. louis would take
Another group of germans on a
Very different kind of voyage.
On november 9, the nazis
Unleashed a 2-day orgy of
Violence on jewish businesses,
Places of worship and jews themselves.
This is one of the few existing
Films of what came to be known
As kristallnacht,
Or 'night of broken glass.'
Here in the town of buehl,
Firemen are seen ignoring the
Burning synagogue and working
Instead to save the aryan homes
And businesses next door.
Meanwhile, the residents of
Buehl stand and watch.
>> fritzch: today, the morning
After, i watched my fellow
Passengers on the train.
Only a few people looked up out
The window to see the burning
Synagogues.
>> friedrich: everyone's
Expression seems somehow to be
Asking forgiveness.
But if everyone is ashamed,
Who smashed those windows?
>> narrator: in may of 1939,
The st. louis sailed from germany
With nearly 1,000 jewish refugees.
3 weeks later, they were turned away
By cuba, the united states and canada.
The st. louis returned to europe.
Within the year, most of its
Passengers would once again be
Under nazi rule.
>> narrator: it was the 20th of april, 1939--
In berlin.
Hitler's 50th birthday.
And this would be the biggest
Birthday celebration in the
History of mankind.
The spectacle here was rivaled
Only by the passion
Of the fuhrer's followers.
>> reck-malleczewen: i witnessed
The festivities.
I heard the clamor...
Saw the enraptured faces of the women.
Through it all, this moronic
Roar of "heil!"
Hysterical females, adolescents
In a trance, an entire people in
The spiritual state of whirling dervishes.
These people...
Are insane.
>> woman: dear fuehrer...
I wish you for the completion
Of your 50th year of life,
God's greatest blessing.
I have never been among those
Who write letters.
But now, the constant thought--i
Should be the fuehrer's wife.
>> girl: i want to give
Uncle hitler something
On his birthday.
But i don't have anything.
Mommy had to write this since
I'm only 4 years old.
>> narrator: it was the summer of 1939.
Here in a small town near
Chemnitz, the wuestner family
Was filming their son konrad and
His little brother in their garden.
The title card here reads,
"konrad wants to go to the party
Rally in nuremberg."
300 miles away, this hitler
Youth troop was filming their
Bike trip to the polish border.
It's likely that they, too, were
Looking forward to the annual
Party rally.
But within days of this trip.
Hitler canceled it.
This year's theme would have
Been "rally of peace."
Instead, germany would wage war
Directly across this border.
During the summer of 1939,
If you went to the movies
In germany, you would have seen
Propaganda films like this:
(man speaking german)
The nazis claimed that the poles
Were terrorizing ethnic germans
Near the border.
In truth, 21 of these attacks
Had been staged by the nazis themselves,
To justify war.
(radio tuning)
>> male reporter: we interrupt
This broadcast...
(crowd cheering)
The fuhrer, who has just arrived
To address the reichstag,
Which has been called in
Extraordinary session...
(man shouting in german)
(radio) ...for the first time this
Evening has shot at regular
Soldiers upon our territory.
(man shouting in german)
(radio) for from now on,
Bomb will be met by bomb.
(crowd chanting)
If you were german, you knew
That this, finally, would mean
War with england and france.
Another world war.
But you may have also believed,
Like hans georg klamroth, that
You had no choice but to defend
German blood and german honor.
>> klamroth: dear else, if i
Survive these hours, i shall
Certainly think of them every day.
It would be a pity if were to die,
And sad for you and the children.
But what are we compared to the
Greatness of destiny?
(train whistle)
>> narrator: it was september 4, 1939...
The third day of germany's
Assault on poland.
But that morning, across germany,
People awoke to an enemy threat
In their own backyards.
(airplane taking off)
Some time in the night,
British bombers had flown into
German airspace and dropped 13 tons
Of propaganda leaflets on the
People below.
(whistle)
>> man: warning!
From england to the german people:
The truth has been withheld from you.
You cannot win this war.
We will not relent.
Pass this leaflet on.
>> narrator: meanwhile, in poland,
German bombers were
Leveling cities.
Warsaw, poland.
American filmmaker julian bryan
Was the last western journalist
Left in the city during the
Nazis' siege.
He would later smuggle this film
Out of the country.
>> bryan: one day, i had a
Chance to take pictures of 20
Or more german soldiers.
I asked them why they were
Inflicting such terrible
Tortures upon the polish people.
they answered as one, "wir
mussen."
"we must."
>> narrator: the german onslaught
Lasted for 18 days,
Before poland finally surrendered.
From warsaw, hans georg klamroth
Wrote his wife...
>> klamroth: shocking destruction
Of the city.
If they had surrendered sooner,
It wouldn't have happened.
But the poles are very proud,
They hate us, and i can't blame them.
(metal clanking)
At any rate, we're grateful that
The war hasn't come to our
Country, and i hope it never will.
(men singing in german)
>> man: and now for england.
I haven't the slightest idea of
What will happen to me.
This much i do know--
Germany will prevail.
Even if europe has to be turned
Into ruins and ashes.
We are the children of the gods,
And they are most merciful.
>> narrator: it was june 1940.
In only six weeks, germany
Had conquered the netherlands,
Norway, denmark, and belgium.
>> fuchs: dear madi, it is wonderful
What our soldiers are achieving.
Today, we can be proud to be
German sons and daughters.
Love, karl.
>> narrator: but as the nazis
Spread through europe, so did
Stories of their atrocities.
Slave labor.
Deportations.
Massacres.
It was reported that storks
Migrating from holland to
South africa had messages taped to
Their legs reading, "help us:
The nazis are killing us all."
By mid-june, germany had also
Conquered france.
(woman singing in german)
Across europe, german troops
Like these enjoyed the spoils of
Their success.
Some, like walter lenger, filmed them.
Others, like karl fuchs,
Wrote home about them.
>> fuchs: dear mother, i've seen
Quite a bit of france so far.
But again and again i say to myself,
There's nowhere as beautiful
And clean as our great
German fatherland.
Yours, karl.
>> narrator: from the occupied countries,
German troops shipped home
Wines, cheeses, paintings
And jewelry.
From poland...
They shipped home
People...
To be used as slaves.
>> man: germans: the pole must
Never be your comrade.
He is inferior to each german,
On his farm or in his factory.
(pig squeals)
Be just, but never forget that you
Are a member of the master race.
(woman singing in german)
>> wolff-monckenberg: is it possible
That one can get used to war?
We still have our comforts and warmth.
We have enough to eat.
And occasionally, we even have
Hot water.
>> sievert: when i think how
Terrified we were of air raids
Before the war,
You could almost call them harmless.
War is not so bad if it goes on
Like this.
>> narrator: but it would not go
On like this for long.
The fall of the third reich
Would begin in the east.
(radio crackling)
(men singing on radio)
>> dolker-rehder: by chance, my husband
Turns the radio on this morning.
We are at war with russia.
(shell whistles, explodes)
>> narrator: it was the 22nd of june, 1941,
And 3 million german troops
Were invading the soviet union.
>> dolker-rehder: it's the seventh conflict
In one-and-a-half years...
Poland, norway,
Holland, belgium, france,
Africa, yugoslavia, greece.
Well, our people are so patient
And strong.
We're now taking on russia as well.
No one doubts
That we will win there, too.
>> narrator: wilhelm bleitner
Filmed this footage of his
Unit, the 29th infantry division,
And their march toward
The soviet city of stalingrad.
He and his comrades expected
That the soviet union would
Surrender in less than 5 months.
>> fuchs: dearly beloved madi,
Today was a day of pride
For us all.
Victoriously, we marched
Into lithuania.
Yesterday i knocked off
A russian tank.
If i get in another attack,
I'll receive my first battle stripes.
War is half as bad as it sounds,
And one thing is plain as day...
All of us believe in an early victory.
Yours, karl.
(men singing in german)
>> reinhardt: dear mrs. fuchs,
I have the sad duty to inform you
That karl was killed
On the field of battle.
I hope it will be a small
Consolation for you, when i tell
You that he gave his life
So that our fatherland may live.
Signed, lieutenant reinhardt,
Company commander.
>> narrator: 5 days after karl fuch's death,
Wilhelm bleitner filmed this scene
Somewhere along the eastern front.
The sign reads: "these beasts
Of russian regiment 239,
Mutilated and killed
Already-wounded german soldiers."
Karl fuchs died knowing only the
Glory of the third reich.
Not what would follow.
>> narrator: it was summer, 1941...
And these german troops were
Among the 3 million spreading east
Across the soviet union.
(marching band playing)
(locomotive whistle blows)
(men singing in german)
In letters home and on film,
They documented triumph after triumph.
>> reese: our destiny is pushing us.
There is nothing but victorious
Encirclements, advances,
And extraordinary numbers
Of captives and booty from
The russian campaign.
Our victory is never in doubt.
>> narrator: some of the men who
Brought their cameras
Also documented something else.
The films you are about to see
Depict violence and murder.
Viewer discretion is advised.
(indistinct german voices, laughter)
This home movie shows germans
Stationed in the east...
Enjoying their time on leave.
The rest of the film on this
Reel was shot in zolochiv, ukraine.
Here, those same germans oversaw
The extermination of 3 to 4
Thousand jews.
This is libau, latvia.
An off-duty german naval officer
Stationed near here filmed these
Jews being led to a trench
Outside of town.
(gunshot)
The killings continued until the
Trench was full.
And then another trench was dug.
>> kretschner: beloved wife,
Dear children...
You needn't worry that we are
Living badly here.
We have to eat and drink well
Because of the nature of our work.
I do not want to write about it
Any further.
It would only make your heart heavy,
Needlessly.
>> narrator: this footage was
Filmed by a german soldier,
Home on leave
From the eastern front.
Family members who had served there
Rarely talked about what they had seen
And done in the east.
But willy reese, a 21-year-old soldier,
Wrote this when he returned
To germany:
>> reese: marched into russia.
Murdered the jews.
Strangled the women.
Killed the children.
Everyone knows what we bring.
>> narrator: it was the spring of 1942.
And if you were german, life
During wartime wasn't much
Different than life before.
(woman singing in german)
But that was about to change.
>> fischer: above, in front, behind,
Hell has broken loose.
>> narrator: there had been air raids before,
But not like this.
From his bedroom window,
Peter fischer filmed as 1,000 british
Bombers laid siege to cologne.
It was the largest air raid
Of the war to date.
The next day, fischer had to
Hide his camera to film the
Devastation of his city.
Documenting scenes like these
Was outlawed by the nazis.
>> fischer: men, women and children
Lie dead under these ruins.
The first of them are now being
Recovered and laid out
On the sidewalks.
>> narrator: but cologne
Was only the beginning.
By now, the united states
Had joined england
In the war against germany.
Days later, the allies followed
The cologne air raid
With another run.
This time, they dropped tens of
Thousands of warning leaflets
Over german towns.
>> man: we are bombing germany
City by city and ever more terribly,
To make it impossible for you
To go on with the war.
Let the nazis drag you down to
Disaster with them, if you will.
That is for you to decide.
We are coming by day and by night.
>> narrator: it was june of 1942.
If you were one of the 45,000 germans
Made homeless by the
Allied air raids on cologne,
You would have been processed here,
In this refugee center
Outside the city.
You'd be given food, medical
Treatment, and a shower.
You might also receive personal
Items left behind by jews
Who had been your neighbors.
The same week that the nazis
Were caring for the people in
This refugee camp, the world
First learned about other german
Camps in eastern europe.
There, hundreds of thousands of
Jews were being systematically
Exterminated.
(locomotive whistle blows)
>> man: my mother saw the jews
Transported from the station.
Their baggage was loaded
Separately into a freight train.
But when the train with the people left,
The freight car with the baggage
Stayed there.
It didn't go with them.
(children laughing and shouting)
(choir singing: "o tannenbaum")
>> narrator: it was the holiday season, 1942.
Joseph eckstaller filmed his
Children, franz and liesl,
Decorating the christmas tree.
(woman singing in german)
Christmas came with sacrifice
This year.
Food rations had been tightened.
Butter, meat, sugar and coffee
Were replaced with imitation foods...
Some made with potato meal or
Wood pulp.
But for german troops in the east,
It was much, much worse.
(men shouting, distant gunfire & horns)
>> groscurth: all the horses have been eaten.
In the tenth year
Of our glorious reich,
We are standing before
One of the greatest
Catastrophes in history.
(whistle of shell)
>> narrator: for 6 months,
The germans had been fighting
The red army for control of
The soviet city of stalingrad.
(shells whistling, explosions)
(rumble and squeak of track vehicle)
(explosion)
(boom of artillery)
By december, the soviets had
Surrounded the german troops...
And severed their supply lines.
(whistle of falling bombs)
At home, germans were told that
Their soldiers would rather die
Than surrender.
(choir singing "stille nacht"...)
>> clark: at the moment, heroic battles
Are taking place near stalingrad.
Our 6th army is surrounded there.
Will they have time to shoot themselves
At the last moment?
("stille nacht" ends)
>> narrator: on christmas day alone,
1,280 german soldiers
Died in stalingrad.
Five weeks later, germans heard
This broadcast:
(static)
(man speaking german)
In truth, 91,000 german soldiers
Had surrendered against hitler's orders.
86,000 of these men would die.
And the rest would not return to germany,
Until 1955.
After stalingrad,
The germans began to doubt
The nazis' promise of total victory.
Only a few suspected their true fate...
Total defeat.
>> narrator: it was the spring of 1943.
This propaganda film series was
Produced to celebrate the third reich
At the height of its
Dominance in europe.
(airplane engine)
(heroic music)
But if you were german,
Your life looked nothing like this.
(bomb whistle)
(multiple bomb whistles)
(people shouting in distance)
(shoveling and sound of elephant lowing)
(bomb whistle)
The berlin zoo was only one of
The city's bombing casualties.
In 1943, the allies increased
The tonnage of bombs they
Dropped on germany
25 times.
(whistle of bomb)
The british bombed by night.
The americans, in broad daylight.
(bombs whistling)
(piano, and bombs whistling)
(explosion)
(airplane engines)
(melancholy song in german)
>> mockneberg: sirens...
Anti-aircraft guns...
Long lists of the fallen...
Gas and murder...
Mud and ice...
Human beings burned alive...
And charred corpses...
And yet, we are told of a
Golden future and final victory.
(woman singing operatically)
>> narrator: but most now realized,
No matter what the nazis promised,
They were going to lose the war.
(lively music playing)
And so many began behaving
Like they had nothing to lose.
(ocean waves)
(marine motor)
(diving fighter)
(klaxon and indistinct voices)
>> fromke: it's impossible.
There can't be that many ships
In the world.
(series of booms)
>> narrator: here in the outskirts
Of berlin...
These teenagers fled the war and
The ruins of the city,
For a moment in the sun.
600 miles away,
The largest invasion
In the history of the world
Was underway.
Like everyone else in germany,
These teenagers would soon be
At the mercy
Of the approaching allies.
But they were about to find out
That not all of germany's enemies
Would be...merciful.
(indistinct voices)
(dramatic music)
(man speaking german)
In this newsreel,
The nazis claimed that here,
In the german village of nemmersdorf,
62 women and young girls were raped,
And murdered,
By the red army.
If you were german,
You knew now what to expect...
When the red army
Reached your doorstep.
>> man: the hour of revenge
Has struck.
Do not count days.
Do not count miles.
Count only the number of germans
You have killed.
Kill the german.
This is the cry of your russian earth.
Kill the german.
>> narrator: august, 1944.
This is hans georg klamroth.
These are his home movies.
He was an officer, a husband,
And a father.
And for ten years, hanz georg
Was also a loyal nazi.
But as the war dragged on,
He'd become convinced that hitler
Was leading germany to its doom.
And so, in the summer of 1944,
When he learned of a plot
To assassinate the fuhrer,
He told no one.
Hans georg klamroth
Was sentenced to death
By hanging.
He wrote his wife:
"teach the children to pray.
I know now what it means."
Hours later,
As he slowly strangled to death,
His pants were pulled down
Around his ankles--for hitler's cameras.
His family took one small comfort...
That he did not live to see
What would become of germany.
(airplane engine)
It was the early fall of 1944...
And the allies were now closing in...
On germany.
(planes flying overhead)
(distant gunfire)
In the east, there was chaos.
Millions of terrified german civilians
Fled from their homes
Ahead of the advancing red army.
>> woman: we took as many of
Our belongings as possible...
And found our way out of town
Amidst a headless mass
Of fleeing people.
Behind us, the town was in flames.
>> narrator: evacuation plans
For german civilians were...
Inadequate, at best.
Hitler expected his people
To stand their ground
And fight to the death
For the fatherland.
The country's last line
Of defense would be
Little boys and old men.
(german march playing)
(man speaking german)
The recruitment age would soon
Be lowered to 13.
March 22, 1945.
Allied ground troops were only
Weeks from germany's capital.
Hitler made his final appearance
On film.
>> schwanenfluegel: the radio announced
That hitler had come
Out of his safe,
Bomb-proof bunker
To talk with the boys
Who had 'volunteered'
To die for their fuhrer
In defense of berlin.
What a cruel lie.
These boys had no choice.
Boys who are found hiding
Are hanged as traitors
As a warning to the others.
>> narrator: 300 miles west,
American troops were taking
Friedrich kellner's hometown.
>> kellner: for the first time,
We behold americans.
Their soldiers are
Outstandingly equipped...
And remarkably well-fed.
After a long oppression,
Finally, the release.
For our area then,
The war is over.
>> narrator: but not all germans were
So resigned to their defeat.
Many simply couldn't imagine a germany
After the third reich.
Mass suicide occurred across germany
On a scale never before seen
In western europe.
(indistict voices, and footsteps)
100 miles from berlin,
American troops filmed this scene.
>> man: the town of leipzig fell,
And we were there.
There was no burgermeister left.
He and half the city hall
Had committed suicide
At a drinking party the night before.
(pipe organ playing)
>> narrator: the last days of the third reich
Began on april 20th,
Hitler's 56th birthday.
More than a million red army soldiers
Were circling berlin.
Fewer than 100,000 german forces
Would defend the city.
>> friedrich: beyond question,
Berlin is in danger.
We're cut off from the world,
At the mercy of the oncoming catastrophe,
And we're afraid.
>> narrator: if you lived in berlin,
In april, of 1945,
You had no running water,
No electricity, no food.
And the last battle of the war
Was being fought outside
Your front door.
(gunfire, screams)
>> friedrich: and then, suddenly,
The shooting and bombing stopped.
What is left of berlin is now
Completely under the control
Of the red army.
>> narrator: after eight days of battle,
The soviet occupation began.
>> schwanenfluegel: that night,
A horde of red army soldiers
Stormed into the apartment house
Next to ours.
Then, we heard women
Screaming for help.
(static)
>> friedrich: the war is over.
At that moment, the peace begins for us.
>> narrator: but first,
All of germany's people,
Perpetrators, victims,
And bystanders alike,
Would be confronted with the
Crimes of the third reich.
(indistinct voices, gasoline engine)
>> narrator: it was april 29, 1945,
Eight days before germany's surrender.
Shortly after 9:30 a.m.,
The 45th thunderbird division
Of the 7th army filmed their arrival
At the town of dachau.
By now, these men had seen
511 days of combat.
But what they were about to see
Was beyond description.
>> man: the first thing we came to was
A railroad track leading
Out of the camp...
With a lot of open box cars on it.
As we crossed the track,
The most horrible sight
I have ever seen.
>> levin: we had known.
The world had vaguely heard.
But until now, none of us had
Looked on this.
It was as though we had
Penetrated at last
To the center of the black heart,
To the very crawling inside
Of the vicious heart.
(gate cranking open)
>> koberwitz: the day is over.
This april 29, 1945.
I will celebrate it for the rest
Of my life as my second birthday...
As the day that gifted me life anew.
>> narrator: there were more than
20,000 camps like dachau,
Throughout the third reich.
In towns like orhdurf,
Flossenberg and weimar,
German men, women and children
Had lived and worked,
Sometimes right next door.
Now they were being told
They had to go inside.
Here, in dachau, where the
Majority had voted against hitler
In 1933, the townspeople
Told the americans:
"wir sind aberall belogen worden."
"we have all been lied to."
Man: they are liars.
And guilty as sin.
The people are to blame
For their cowardice.
>> narrator: across germany,
The allies forced
Local nazi party members
To bury the dead.
(woman shouting in german)
If you were german,
You understood that
The world held you
Personally responsible
For the crimes of the third reich.
>> monkenberg: they accuse
All of us, without exception,
Of being fully responsible.
But we hated the regime
From the very beginning.
Now our longed-for deliverance
Means only that we are despised,
And hated.
It serves us right.
Nobody can escape
This...collective guilt.
>> narrator: at the time of surrender,
More than 11 million germans
Were prisoners of war.
(indistinct voices)
At least a million would die in captivity
Of hunger...
Exposure...
And neglect.
As the borders of europe were redrawn,
12 to 14 million ethnic germans
Were expelled from their homes.
It was the largest movement
Of any single ethnic population
In modern history.
What awaited them in germany:
Nowhere to live...
And little to eat.
Millions died.
Those who survived would live
On near-starvation rations
For three more years.
Despite all this,
If you were german,
There was only one thing left to do...
Rebuild.
>> monkenberg: all i know is that
We germans are finished.
I can't change that.
I just have to swallow it.
There will be hard work
And short rations.
But the sun is still in the sky.
One thing's for sure:
My life has certainly been full.
All too full.