Rise of the Nazis (2019–2022): Season 1, Episode 1 - Rise of the Nazis - full transcript

-In 1930, German
is a liberal democracy..

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

Just four years later,
freedom of speech is over.

Most of the political opposition
is in jail

and the government
is in the hands of murderers

This is the storY
of how democracy died.

To piece together
how it happened,

historians and experts
have examined those four years

each from a different
individual perspective

-You cajole, you influence
you manipulate

-They'll take us
inside the minds



of those that fought fascism..

-They realized that these people
are after your heads

They want to annihilate you
from existence altogether.

-...and the Nazis themselves

-Himmler genuinely believe
that he would create

a racially pure German

where the Aryan race
would reign supreme.

-The moments when history
hung in the balance

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

-Mass murder was no problem.

But it was important
to be socially acceptable.

-Do people care about the truth?

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

Germany, a once great nation
is on its knees.



The people, having endured years
of economic hardship

are looking for change

But no one knows what kind
of change they will choose

-Another milestone is marked
in Germany's political history

-The 1930 general election
should have brought clarity,

but it didn't.

It's a total mess,

the vote split between
14 different parties

The communists

The Social Democrats

The center party is just
about able to put together

a moderate coalition government,

but it's a weak one.

The only party who are happy

who make substantial gains
are the Nazis.

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

But their revolution failed.

And Hitler was sent to prison.

But out of that failure,

Hitler devised a new strategy
for the Nazis --

to pretend to be
a legitimate political party

and destroy democracy
from within.

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

until now.

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

[ "Moonlight Sonata" plays ]

And that capture
the interest of this man

Germany's ultimate
political operative,

a right-wing
aristocratic general

Kurt von Schleicher.

-It has been noted by many
people that Schleicher

schleichen in German
means to sneak, to creep

So in English,
it would be the creeper

or the sneaker
which strangely

is a very accurate denomination
for what he did

and for what he was.

If you see politics as a game,

Schleicher -- he is a master
in the play of power

But Schleicher's profession
is to observe everybody.

And the Nazis appear
like the deus ex machina

or like jack-in-the-box.

It's something which was not
foreseen and saying,

"We offer you this

Here we are,
and we offer you a part

of the German working class
on a silver plate.

The Nazis have
a kind of street cred.

And Schleicher is
cynical enough

and he thinks to be
clever enough to say

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

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

the threat posed to the
aristocratic elite

from the increasingly powerful
forces of the left

So Schleicher cooks up a plan.

He wants to replace
the current chancellor

supported by
a moderate coalition

with his own right-wing choice

But to do this

he needs two things --

the backing of the Nazis
in the Reichstag..

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

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

So Schleicher has to persuade
President Hindenburg

an 82-year-old war veteran
to work with the Nazis

-Hindenburg was trying
to make sense

of this rather chaotic
and complex situation.

You want the book? Now

He's not really
politician at all,

is my reading on his character

Soldiering, particularly
in wartime conditions,

is an exercise, amongst
other things, in command

Politics are somewhat different,
particularly in a democracy.

And I could see him saying
"Oh, God

I wish for the simplicities
of military command,

which, of course
were not open to him

He had to do the best he could

Others tried to manipulate
him, of course

-If we look
at politics as a game,

as Schleicher does

Hindenburg simply is what,
in chess, would be the king.

Everything comes down to who
is close to Hindenburg

Who is close to the king
is close to power.

So Schleicher, who's one
of the closest person-

if not the closest person
to the president

is trying to influence
and to engineer

a meeting with the Nazis

-So Schleicher persuades
the president

to take a meeting
with Adolf Hitler.

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

Hitler is living with his niece,

Geli Raubal, who it's rumored
he was having sex with

-Right

Yep.

Hitler was a narcissist.

Obsessed with power.

Belief that he was
a man of destiny

and all of these thing
grew over time

He was increasingly ruthless

He was filled with hate,
particularly against the Jews.

He was, in the end
a man of violence.

-Hitler's niece, Geli,
is found dead.

She shot herself in the chest
with Hitler's revolver

-There are moments
in Hitler's life

when he completely
loses control.

You can think, for example

of towards the end of his life
in the bunker in 1945

when he completely
goes to pieces

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

Geli Raubal, his girlfriend
at the time.

Not necessarily
because he loved her

and he was shocked and so on

but because he thinks his whole
political career is finished

-But just as he thinks
it might all be over

only three weeks
after her suicide,

Schleicher has organized
an audience for Hitler

with President Hindenburg.

-The key question is
to sell the concept

that Hitler could be use
to build a right-wing coalition,

which is based
on a common hatred

and on common enemies
that they have

-For Hitler, this is a moment
when he realizes

that he has arrived.

He's now become part
of the political game.

-Hitler, no doubt,
had his own personal feelings.

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

There might have been a somewhat
snobbish dimension to this

Von Hindenburg is an aristocrat.

He is a general.

Indeed, he is the president
of his country

Hitler fought in the first war
as a corporal.

And Hitler's time in the
German army was not marked

by any particular distinction.

He was rather dismissive

of what he called
this Austrian corporal

-Hitler thinks it's gone
pretty well, really,

He comes away from it thinking
that Hindenburg now know

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

Hindenburg would be prepared
under some circumstances

to appoint him a
Reich Chancellor

-Hindenburg concludes Hitler
is best suited

for the Office of Postmaster

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

-Schleicher, at this moment,
is annoyed

These people are very precious
We need them

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

general staff-trained officers
like in the good old times

but unfortunately, we do live in
a Republican Democratic reality.

So Schleicher thinks
if plan A goes wrong

you should have a plan B

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

they also have a paramilitary
wing called the storm troopers

These disenfranchised me
are used to dish out violence

on the streets
to their enemies..

...but in a way that

the Nazi party
can deny involvement in,

all part of Hitler's
secret agenda

to wage war agains
the Nazis' political rivals.

In this, too, Schleicher
sees an opportunity.

Maybe he can persuade Hindenburg
to work with the Nazis

as a way of harnessing
these storm troopers

-For Schleicher,
the storm troopers are

precious elements,
as he calls the storm troopers

because the left-wing
insurgency

which is communism, socialism,

the unions, probably
has to be broken with force.

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

-The German army
is weak and depleted

an issue that
the old man cares about.

Maybe they could use
the storm troopers

to bolster the ranks

-Hindenburg regards it
as his duty as president

to see Germany back
as a great power

-So Schleicher is saying
to Hindenburg, "The Nazis,

with the storm troopers,
represent a fresh start.

-With the president onboard,

he now needs to persuade
Hitler to join his

right-wing coalition government
as the junior partner.

-Hitler really is not somebody
who's going to enter

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

That would violate
the leadership principle

It would kind of undermine
his charisma

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

-So Hitler says no

What Hitler wants is
another election

in which he hope
to do even better.

So Schleicher offers
another deal

He'll bring elections forward
on condition Hitler

doesn't vote down
his right-wing coalition

-In this moment,
he perceives him as a servant,

someone who is going to play
a supporting role in a system

which would be run
by aristocrats like himself,

He thinks he can somehow
blackmail the Nazis,

he can put pressure
on the Nazis

and that sooner or later

they are going to eat
from his hand.

-Whatever he thinks,
Hitler's extracted

as a condition of
the support of the Nazis

that elections should be held.

Schleicher imagined he was
manipulating Hitler,

whereas, in fact, it's
the other way around

-So while Schleicher plots
his next chancellor,

Hitler sets about
winning the hearts

and minds of the German people

-He portrayed himself
as a man of the people

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

He was a man who projected
himself as an ordinary bloke

as it were, and that
I think, managed

to unite man
different kinds of people.

-While Hitler's support grows,

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

And one man tries to prove it

in court

-Hans Litten is anxious.

He saw the risk
of what he believe

is going to be a very
dangerous movement

Litten is a lawyer
who is powered by the idea

that law is important.

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

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

in creating a better society

a foundation
a rock on which it can be built.

He is talking about human rights

at a time
when very few people did

and he takes on his case
as though life depended on it.

-Litten sees what the
storm troopers are doing

on the streets

When they attack a nightclub
full of communists

dozens are injured, and four
storm troopers are charged

Litten wants to join the dots
back to the Nazi party itself.

-Hitler is saying
he believes in law

he believes in a
rules-based society,

and he would never himself speak
of violence and using violence

But Hans Litten -- he understood
what fascism was about

He understood
what Nazism was about.

And so he thinks

"How do we make this case of use
in a bigger struggle?"

And he decides that a summon
should be issued

to get Hitler before the court

When Hitler enters the court

the storm troopers who are
on trial stand up in the dock

and raise their hand
in the Hitler salute

and they show their dedication
to their leader.

Hitler is absolutely in control.

Hitler went there
prepared to say something

very well-rehearse

and says that he had
no knowledge at all

of what these
storm troopers would do.

This was a rogue group

How often have we had
great leaders saying that,

somehow, this was
an out-of-control group

and that this has nothing
to do with them?

And Litten slowly but surely
starts to unpick that.

Hitler is cross-examined
for three hours.

"Who are the storm troopers?

What is expected of?

Tell me the truth.

-As Hitler continues
to deny storm trooper violence

as official Nazi policy,
Litten produces a pamphlet

It's a quick guide
to Nazi ideology

for new storm trooper recruits

In it, there's a line that say

if the Nazis can't come to power
by democratic means...

Litten plays his trump card,
and he presents it to Hitler

"Look at this.

You're telling us
you are a Democrat

that you're running
a democratic party

Look what your pamphlets say."

-And then he gets angry.

From this position
of calm leadership

he becomes the rather
frothing man

that we knew
he was capable of being.

By keeping at it
slowly and patiently

he wore down the veneer.

And although, you know
this was not about, you know

a witness saying, "I'm guilty,

you just know that someone
has been reduced in size

And I think Hitler was

-A reporter secretly
takes this photograph.

-The sense you have in
looking at the photograph,

Hitler knows that
his performance was not good

that Litten had exposed
to the public

what this man was really like.

-Hans Litten -- he was exactly
the sort of man

who Hitler rather despised -

a Jewish lawyer,
a clever man, an intellectual.

They were traitors

They were tools of a world
Jewish conspiracy, vermin.

They were less than nothing.

-And so it was a great victory
for Litten

But by God, had he mad
an enemy in the fuehrer.

-Back in the halls of power,

Schleicher goes to work
to bring down the chancellor

Schleicher's political game

operates on
different levels at once

He conspires
with the military elite.

He uses his influence
with media and big business.

He spreads gossip to weaken

the chancellor's standing
in political circles..

...telling everyone
the chancellor has failed

to get Germany out of it
political and economic mess.

And all the while, he continue

to work on Hindenburg...

...the only man who can
fire a chancellor...

...convincing him that to keep
the current chancellor in power

is bad for his reputation.

-Schleicher knows about
how much Hindenburg

likes his own reputation

This is another button
that he can push

The chancellor is a failure,

too much under the spell
of the socialist

He should go

-Well, I think
the evidence is clear.

The chancellor cannot go on.

It could be very important for
the future stability of Germany.

-This is Schleicher at his best.

These are ways to rule a country

which are based on
conspiracy, intrigue

This is not what a republic
is meant to be

-And so within weeks
of his deal with Hitler,

Schleicher has persuaded the
president to fire the chancellor

and accept his choice
for a new chancellor

-What sort of person
is Franz von Papen

Well, he claim
he's completely surprise

that anyone should imagine
him becoming chancellor

of the Reich

but on the other hand, I find
that quite hard to believe

that he hasn't imagined himself
in that position

You get the impression
of a little bit of a popinjay.

He's always terribly
well-dressed

He always has a flower
in his buttonhole.

He's always
immaculately turned out

and outwardly very charming.

You know, he knew how to play --

In a very Germanic way, he knew
how to play the gentleman,

although he has the
reputation of someone

with a degree of incompetence.

-Schleicher, at this point
is looking for a man

who would basically do
what he tells him to do,

someone that he could
manipulate

Yeah, well, if we try to think
with Schleicher's mind

in this moment, this is a very
very understandable choice

I would even say
it was a very good choice.

-The idea that Papen is
a sort of useful idiot

for other people around his
is clearly nonsense.

-It's Schleicher's men
and Schleicher's cabinet

It's going to be
Schleicher's politics.

-Kurt von Schleicher thought
he could exploit him

Of course, the reality is
that he is..

for want of a better word,
prone to subterfuge.

He is cunning.

-And because they need
the Nazis' support

they turn a blind eye
to the storm troopers' violence.

-I certainly don't get
the impression

that Papen is
particularly moved

by what's happening
on the streets

You know, he is a man who...

does not see the morality
of his position.

And as far as he's concerned
if there's a brawl between

the Nazis and the communists
the people he wants to lose

in that brawl will be the
communists and not the Nazis

For Papen, the Nazis
are the ticket to power.

-So Schleicher finally
has what he wants --

a right-wing government,

A malleable chancellor

and his political opponent
on the run

The destiny of Germany
is in his hands.

-I do think that
in this moment, he is...

full of himself,
and he he likes what he does

and I think he's quite proud
and he feels this is going well.

I think he feels
this is successful

And where he goes wrong,
Schleicher, is to

not see that the Nazis
and particularly Hitler,

were playing their own game
and were not going to accept

the rules set out
by General Schleicher.

-On Election Day, 1932

all the key player
cast their vote.

Hitler

Von Papen,

and President Hindenburg

-Hitler realizes that if he
tells a very simple message,

it doesn't matter
if they're true or not

The point is that you
have to keep repeating

and keep hammering them in

"Make Germany great again.

Restore the economy.

They are empty slogans
but they're carrying a message

that, although vague
is very powerful

"Heil!"

-The results send shock wave

through Germany.

The Nazis' vote has gone
from 18 to 37 percent.

Now, with the largest part
in the Reichstag

suddenly, Hitler is too big
for even Schleicher to control

-So Hitler thinks now is
the time to strike

-Now Hitler makes his big move
and demands to be chancellor

-Schleicher is worried
Hitler is simply

not playing by the rules
that Schleicher has foreseen

-Hitler was a gambler.

As he said
"I always go for broke."

And the more
he believed in himself

the more he was encouraged
by his media and followers

to believe in himself,

the more he was disincline
to compromise.

-Talking to Hitler
which at the beginning

was like talking to a servant,

now becomes talking to someone
who comes with his own claims.

So Schleicher's position
starts to weaken

and things start to become
shaky and slippery

-So Schleicher respond
with an even bigger move

He knows that
in the German constitution

there is a clause
that says the president

can suspend parliament and rule
by presidential decree

Schleicher and Papen now
persuade Hindenburg to pull

that lever and exercise
his emergency powers

-Hindenburg --
he's rather horrified

by the idea of Hitler
as chancellor,

the jumped-up little corporal
from somewhere in Austria.

-So Chancellor Papen heads
to the Reichstag

with the authority of the
president to suspend parliament.

He just has to get
the speaker's attention

and then dissolve the Reichstag.

-That is all he need
to do in theory.

-But there's a new speaker
who has just been appointed.

-Goering is very keen
to be Hitler's fixer

because it makes him
an important political figure.

But to be Hitler's fixer
you've got, in the end

to deliver what Hitler wants

-And in a moment
captured in this photograph,

when Papen tries to get
the speaker's attention

to dissolve the Reichstag,

Goering looks the other way
and instead call

a vote of no confidence
in Papen's government.

-Goering looks at them
reads them, laughs

and says, "Sorry
your government's finished."

-But Papen has no intention
of leaving

and decides to try
to cling to power.

-Papen can rely on
certain people

After all, it is Schleicher
who makes Papen chancellor

Papen thought very highly
of Schleicher.

-Schleicher is ruthless when it
comes to political loyalties

and he has the capacity
to change coalitions

to change people as other people
would change shoes or sock

when the situation forces --
needs it

-He persuades the president
they need a new chancellor

-"It is a disaster for us.

Papen is a very stupid man,"
and that he simply should go

-So...

marching orders,

which Hindenburg, I suspect,

would have found
quite difficult.

-But there's one thing
Schleicher hasn't quite factored

into his calculation
that will come back to bite him.

-When Hindenburg, as president
sacks von Papen as chancellor,

Hindenburg gives him
a photograph

And the superscription
to the photograph,

in German,
"Ich hatt' einen Kameraden."

"I had a comrade."

And I find the use of
the past tense

rather poignant now.

-It meant an awful lot to Papen

because it was a gauge of
the sympathy of the president,

that Hindenburg was
not entirely in his heart.

He was not happy
at what had happened

So despite the fact that he was
sent packing by Hindenburg

Papen believes that this is
a monstrous betrayal

And from that moment onwards
Papen will do anything

in order to bring down
Schleicher

and bring himself back to power.

-For lawyer Hans Litten,

the fight agains
the Nazis goes on.

-After the case where he
cross-examined Hitler,

he became, you know,
Public Enemy Number 1.

It's the classic thing
that happens to somebody

who stands up to be counted.

People distanced themselves
from him, death threats.

He's viciously assaulted

Litten is feeling, I think
what all lawyers feel

when they suddenly
find themselves

at the hard end
of society's criticisms.

And yet at the same time

he knows that this is
something that matters

-Despite the harassment,
Litten is winning.

He gets storm troopers convicted

for the killing
of a communist activist.

He successfully defend
antifascists

against charges of murder.

-Litten did enjoy successes.

There is no doubt
that Litten is

a thorn in the side
of the Nazis

It's his persistence
it's his determination

his sense that he is not
going to give up on this

He keeps trying to call Nazism
to book through the courts

because he feels that to succumb
and to quietly skulk off

would be to allow,
somehow, Nazism to win

and so he keeps going.

-Now Litten's investigations
begin to reveal a conspiracy

between the Nazi
and the police

In one incident, storm trooper
clash with antifascist

in a neighborhood
called Felseneck..

...when a communist called
Fritz Klemke is shot dead.

The storm troopers responsible
are brought to trial

claiming self-defense.

What Litten uncovers
is explosive

A policeman went into a tavern

and deliberately left his gun
on the bar

A storm trooper picked it up
carried out the murder

and then slipped it back
to the policeman

-When you have the
collusion of police

providing weaponry
and, in fact

being involved themselves
in the commission of crime

bringing that to light
was very important

-Having plotted the removal
of two chancellors

in less than a year,

Kurt von Schleiche
feels back in control.

Now, in his boldest move yet
Schleicher persuades Hindenburg

that the next chancellor
should be himself.

His first objective...

...end Hitler'
political ambitions.

-At this moment, Schleicher
starts to consider

different options,
even plans, it seems

to arrest Nazi leaders
to strike against them

So he is considering options
He's always considering options.

His career, at this point,
requires it.

-The fall of Chancellor Papen

coincides with yet another
general election

And with the German economy
picking up

the Nazi vote falls back

It looks like Hitler got close
to being chancellor,

but not close enough

And years of
constant campaigning

has left the Nazi part
close to bankruptcy.

-By late 1932, Goering clearly
feels the Nazi party

is facing something of a crisis.

He knows that this is a leader
who's stubbornly committed

to becoming chancellor
or nothing

And for Goering,
I think that's, you know -

it's a difficult
circle to square

And I think there are moment
when Goering is really thinking,

you know, "How the hell am I
going to do this?"

"Is Hitler's stubbornness going
to make the party fall apart?"

-Hitler has always refused
to join any coalition

But many in the Nazi party
are getting impatient

and want a slice of power.

Schleicher sees this
and offers rebel Nazis

a part in his government
weakening Hitler further

-So at this moment, it seems

that this is successful.

He feels that he starts having
all the tools in his hand

to open the door
to the Nazi castle

and to get into it

or to get -- actually,
he tries to steal from Hitler.

He tries to get
a part of the support

that Hitler has
from the German people

-By the end of 1932...

...Hitler was at his wits' end
as to what to do

He didn't seem to be able
to get any more votes.

The Nazis began
to run out of money.

People began to desert them.

The Nazi party is weak

It's declining, so there's a
general feeling of crisis.

-It should have been
the beginning of the end

for the Nazi party

With his chances of power
slipping away,

Hitler makes
a clandestine journey...

...in a desperate last
throw of the dice.

-He definitely looks down
on Hitler.

Hitler is another
sort of animal

as far as he's concerned

Papen is looking at Hitler
to see if this man can be useful

in getting his revenge
against Schleicher

-Papen offers Hitler a deal

to join forces using Hitler'
parliamentary strength

and Papen's friendship
with President Hindenburg

to find a way to power

-He sees Hitler as his means
of getting back into power

Hitler does not
represent, to him,

the ideal form of government

Franz von Papen finds the
ideal form of government

Franz von Papen.

-For the first time
in his political career,

Hitler makes a compromise.

An agreement is made
that the Nazis and Papen

will for
a coalition government

-Compromise wasn't really
in his repertoire.

It was either total victor
or total defeat.

But I think he was convinced
that a von Papen deal

would bring the legitimacy
with which he could then

take over power.

-Between Papen and Hitler,

at least one thing is agreed

Schleicher must go

-This famous meeting

which is supposed to be
a secret meeting

but it's not that secret
because it leaks out immediately

and Schleicher has
knowledge of it.

And strangely,
he reacts in a manner

where he does not
really feel threatened by it

And it seems that he
even thinks,

"Oh, this is little Franz
doing something for me

trying to negotiate
with the Nazis

to bring Nazi support
to my government."

He does not yet understand

to what extent Papen
has turned against him

-Now Franz von Papen
shows his true color

as a cunning political player
in his own right..

...using his position
as Hindenburg's new favorite

to present a radical idea.

He should be vice chancellor

and the chancellor
should be Adolf Hitler

-It's an idea he has
that the only way

to destroy
the National Socialist

is to give them a bit of power

Let's give them a chance
in government

to show how dreadful they are,

and then the people will lose
their interest in them

These are desperate times,

and desperate scheme
are dreamed up

-The decision rest
with Hindenburg.

-How is it that Hindenburg

from his initial rather loft
position regarding Hitler,

the upstart,
the Austrian corporal,

to contemplating

Hitler as
potential chancellor

How do you explain
the vault fast

It's quite a journey, that one

"Schleicher, von Papen
my reputation.

Rise of the communists."

Eventually, Hindenburg
comes to the conclusion

von Papen is right

There was no other answer,

He'd run out of option
at this point.

-Schleicher is out

He has no
remaining cards to play.

Hindenburg dismisses Schleicher
at the end of January, 1933.

What he says to him
as the last sentence is,

"General, and now let's see
how the Herr is going to run

with God's help.

The Herr is Hitler

-The Nazis are close to power.

Hans Litten is starting
to realize

that Germany's legal system
is riddled

with Nazi sympathizers

As his case against the police

and the storm troopers
comes together

the system begins

to shut him down

Crucial evidence
mysteriously disappears.

The Nazi conspiracy is wider
than Litten realized

-Here we have state collusion
in murder.

He presents it to the judge,
and the judge accuses

Litten of lying.

Hans Litten is seeing how the
rule of law is now a pretense.

It becomes the ultimate
evidence to him

that the whole system
is becoming Nazified

-Berlin's chief prosecutor
informs him

that the case
against the storm troopers

is being dropped
for lack of evidence

-For Litten,
watching this is hell.

He sees that the
destruction of democracy

is taking place before his eyes,
and no one is stopping it.

-An excited crowd gather
outside the presidential palace

on learning that Hindenburg
has sent for Hitler

to further govern.

-And so Hitler has
for the first time

power.

-On that evening, Hitler has
this unshakeable self-belief

One way or another, he is going
to become Germany's dictator

People like Schleicher
Papen, and Hindenburg

thought that they could use him,
that he'd be easily manipulated.

They were, of course, wrong.

-We go back to this time
over and over again,

because it informs
our current world.

It informs our current world
on a number of planes,

but particularly
it is a warning to us

to prevent things like this
from happening again

And we ask, "Why wasn't it that
there were no people around

who could actually prevent
this terrible descent?

-Here we are in the '30s

Violence is taking place
and society becoming divided

Do people see
what's really happening?

-The story of German politics
between 1930 and 1933

is the story of the decline
and fall of a democracy.

And that's why
we're so fascinated,

because we know
what happened afterwards

Journalists at the time didn't
know what was going to happen,

but we know now, looking back,

what a terrible
turning point it was

And, of course, democracy is
under challenge and under threat

in many countries at the moment.

We're looking for parallels.

That period
does have lessons for us

if we want to preserve and
defend democracy in our own day.

-The moment when his murderer
points the gun on him

and asks him
"Are you General Schleicher,

he might have realized
that he created a monster.

And whatever was going to come

it would finish everything
which was there before

-Hitler still doesn't

-Hitler still doesn't
have supreme power

-4,000 communists arrested
in one night

-Himmler gives a
press conference

announcing the opening
of this concentration camp

-What kind of people are these

-The camp's in the
small town of Dachau