Secrets of the Dead (2000–…): Season 12, Episode 2 - Bugging Hitler's Soldiers - full transcript

Coming up
on "Secrets of the Dead"...

an audacious act
of espionage by the allies.

WOMAN: There were
bugging devices

in the lamp fittings,

behind mirrors,
in the fireplaces.

MAN: They weren't
being interrogated.

They were speaking in what
they thought was privacy.

ANNOUNCER: The recorded
conversations revealed

valuable military secrets...

I saw it once. There's
a special testing site.

And horrifying war crimes.



MAN ON RECORDING: We saw
one of these executions.

It would have made
you shudder.

ANNOUNCER: "Bugging
Hitler's soldiers"
on "Secrets of the Dead."

Captioning made possible by
Friends of NCI

ANNOUNCER: "Secrets of the Dead"
was made possible

by contributions

to your PBS station
from viewers like you.

WINSTON CHURCHILL: We are
in the preliminary stage

of one of the greatest
battles in history.

I have nothing to offer
but blood, toil, tears,

and sweat.

NARRATOR: In the cha
and carnage of total war,

high-grade intelligence is
as vital as firepower.

MI19, an intelligence
department



of the British war office,
set out to exploit

German prisoners of war
in the most ambitious

surveillance operation
ever attempted.

Three stately homes
in the British countryside

were converted into
unlikely prison camps

and wired for sound.

MI19's specially designed
microphones

reached everywhere.

Nothing was out of range.

WOMAN: There were
bugging devices

in the lamp fittings,

behind mirrors,
in the fireplaces.

It was a huge operation.

And something
this technical
and sophisticated

had never been
undertaken before.

The British were very
clever at thinking

into the mind-set of how
they could get

intelligence
from the enemy.

And it was a very
British thing to do,

actually.

MAN, VOICE-OVER:
We're very used nowadays

to the idea of
conversations being bugged.

People weren't during
the second World War.

This was the beginning
of modern surveillance.

This was entirely new.

NARRATOR: Hidden away
in basements and attics were

the listening rooms,

filled with
what at that time was

state-of-the-art
recording equipment.

I was told to report
to the commanding officer,

that what I was going to do
was probably more important

for the war effort
than if I drove a tank

or fired a machine gun.

So what can you
tell me

about
nickel-carbide?

NARRATOR: Captured
German soldiers were brought

to the UK and interrogated.

If they were suspected
of having

important intelligence,
the soldiers were then sent

to bugged locations,

where listeners were
ready and waiting

for them to start talking.

[Man speaking indistinctly
over microphone]

FRITZ LUSTIG: We were
working in a special room

which was called the M-room.

There were
five or six of us

sitting in front
of something

like an old-fashioned
telephone switchboard.

And whenever
the conversation seemed

to be going towards

the subject
we were waiting for,

we switched on
the turntable and recorded

on an old-fashioned 78 record
what they were saying.

NARRATOR: The evidence
comes from one of the most

audacious operations

British Intelligence
ever conducted.

Conversations between
German prisoners of war

were secretly recorded
and then transcribed

word for word.

MAN: In the transcripts,
we found

totally new knowledge
about war crimes,

about huge war crimes.

[Man speaking indistinctly
over microphone]

I had an hour to spare,

and we went
to some barracks.

And there we slaughtered
1,500 Jews.

NARRATOR: These were
German soldiers

as they'd never
been heard before--

uncensored and unguarded.

LUSTIG: This operation was
what was called top secret.

I did not tell
even my closest family

what I had been doing
for about 50 years

after the war.

[Man speaking German]

[Voice fades]

[Overlapping male voices
speaking German]

NARRATOR: Using transcripts
hidden for decades,

these conversations
are reconstructed

for the first time.

MAN: Bet she let you
sleep with her, too.

Yes. I mean, you couldn't
tell that she was a Jewess.

She was quite a nice
type, too.

It was just a shame

that she had to die
with everybody else.

75,000 Jews were shot
there.

[Overlapping conversations
over microphone]

[Man speaking German]

NARRATOR: In the aftermath
of World War II,

ordinary German soldiers
claimed they knew nothing

about the holocaust.

They blamed all
its atrocities on the SS.

[Man speaking German
over microphone]

...I saw one of these
executions once.

We were actually there
when a pretty girl was shot.

That's too bad.

But she knew
she was gonna be shot.

NARRATOR: But these recently
declassified transcripts

exposed the full extent
of that lie.

MAN: What did they
do to the children?

They seized 3-year-olds
by the hair,

held them up, and shot
them with their pistols
and threw them in.

I saw it for myself.

PRISONER: On the second day
of the Polish War,

I had to drop bombs
on a station at Posen.

Now, 8 out of the 16 bombs

fell on the town,
among the houses.

I didn't like that.

But I said to myself
how orders are orders.

LUSTIG: We knew that
the microphones

must have been
of very high quality

because we could hear
the prisoners very clearly.

And even if they whispered
to their cell mate,

it was very often possible
to pick up what they said.

MAN ON MICROPHONE:
On the third day,
I didn't care.

And on the fourth day,
I was enjoying it.

It was our
before-breakfast
entertainment

to chase single soldiers
across the fields

with machine gun fire
and leave them lying there

with a few bullets
in the back.

JOSHUA LEVINE: They weren't
being interrogated.

They weren't
minding what they were saying.

They were being very careful
not to give anything away.

They were
speaking to their equals

in what
they thought was privacy.

MAN: We attacked civilians
in the street,

all machine guns
firing like mad.

And...you should have seen
the horses stampede.

[Conversation continues
indistinctly over microphone]

NARRATOR: The recordings
were translated

into English,
and transcripts were sent

directly to Churchill
himself.

GERMAN SOLDIER:
...before-breakfast
entertainment

to chase single soldiers
across the fields

with machine gun fire
and leave them lying there

with a few bullets
in the back.

And soon they overheard
secrets that helped save

Britain in its darkest hour.

[Air-raid siren]

For 8 consecutive months,
the German Luftwaffe bombed

British cities.

A million homes
were destroyed.

In London alone, 40,000
civilians were killed.

LEVINE: The blitz came as
a real shock to Britain

and to the people of Britain
because it was unrelenting.

And what the British really
were having difficulty

in understanding was,
how were the Germans

managing to guide themselves
onto the targets

night after night accurately
in total darkness?

[Gunfire]

NARRATOR: Scientists wondered
if the Germans were using

a seet navigation system.

Their answer came

from a conversation between
two Luftwaffe pilots.

MAN: The system
is called X-Gerat.

I'll tell you how it works.

A beam is sent
on a shortwave.

This shortwave beam has
a width no broader

than one kilometer...

even as far as London.

LEVINE: This very small snippet
of conversation

about X-Gerat was
hugely significant.

And what it was

was a system of guiding
the bombers in using

radio pulses,
using radio waves.

The bombers
would effectively

fly down the path of
a radio wave.

NARRATOR: Armed with
this top-secret information,

scientists jammed
the radio navigation beams,

saving tens of thousands
of lives.

They were so successful
that some bombers

even landed at RAF bases
believing they were

back in Germany.

But it is only now that
we are piecing together

the story of
this extraordinary

bugging operation.

And it's only by accident
the transcripts

were discovered at all.

[Man speaking German
over microphone]

NARRATOR: On a routine
research trip

to the National Archive
in London,

German historian
Sonke Neitzel requested

files on U-boat crews.

What arrived on his desk was
the discovery of a lifetime.

MAN: I just ordered 3 files

and had these 3 huge,
massive files on my desk.

And I start reading them.

September '43,
German Navy personnel.

And, I mean, it was
so authentic.

You could really just see
the people speaking

to each other.

[Indistinct conversation
over microphone]

NARRATOR: Sonke was given
800 pages of transcripts.

e Archives contain
another 49,000.

SONKE NEITZEL: And then
in that moment, I realized

I might be standing on
a tip of an iceberg.

NARRATOR: The transcribers
even noted

how the original words
were spoken.

[Man speaking German]

NEITZEL: You were really able
to see these people talking.

You were able
to get a feeling

of the killing,
the fighting,

the dying, the war.

[Speaking German]

MAN, VOICE-OVER:
When I saw the documents,

one of the things that
struck me was

how real they were.

I mean, the discussions,

the way they conducted
themselves,

this is how soldiers talk.

[Indistinct conversations
playing]

NARRATOR: The recordings
reveal shocking secrets

about a war where both
civilians and soldiers

were on the front lines.

[Conversation continues
indistinctly]

Kharkiv was
a delightful town.

Everybody spoke
a little German.

They had splendid cinemas
and wonderful cafes.

It's beautiful country...

NARRATOR: Lance Corporal
M?ller told Sergeant Faust

about his experiences as his
unit moved into Russia.

MAN, AS M?LLER:
Everywhere we saw
women working.

Extraordinary,
lovely girls.

We drove past.

We would simply pull them
into the armored car,

rape them, and throw
them out again.

And did they curse!

NEITZEL: I think these
are typical conversations

for a man at this time.

It was totally
normal for them,

but only for them.

For us, it's a very
astonishing thing.

How can you tell a story
about nice Russia

as being a tourist
and then combining that

with a story of raping?

[Gunfire]

NARRATOR: For the first
desperate years of war,

British Intelligence had
few prisoners to spy on.

But in 1942, Britain's
fortunes changed.

Victory over the Germans
in North Africa brought

thousands of P.O.W.s
to England,

among them the first
senior officers,

including the highly prized

General
Wilhelm Ritter von Thoma.

Von Thoma was taken back
to London

and confined to Trent Park,

the stately but bugged home
reserved for officers.

His capture was a coup.

Von Thoma knew
the intimate secrets

of Hitler's
military machine.

And though a proud patriot,

he was not
a member of the Nazi Party.

He was met by Lord Aberfeldy.

MAN, AS von THOMA:
When I was captured,

the Italian generals

who were taken
at the same time

arrived with a load
of luggage.

They looked like
tourists.

I immediately said,
"Please...

don't put them
with me."

[Chuckles]

MAN, VOICE-OVER: Von Thoma
is very intelligent

and exceedingly well-read.

He has a striking
personality

and is violently anti-Nazi.

Well, General von...

NARRATOR: Von Thoma joined
General Ludwig Cruwell

who was also captured
in North Africa,

when his aircraft
accidentally landed

at a British airfield.

MAN, VOICE-OVER:
Cruwell is

a follower
and admirer of Hitler,

an ignorant, stupid,
sentimental, vain,

and self-satisfied type
of Prussian senior officer.

NARRATOR:
Holding such strong

opposing political views,

von Thoma and Cruwell
inevitably clashed.

And when they did,
the recorders were ready.

MAN, AS von THOMA:
The stupid thing

about our propaganda is
that it's entirely negative.

Your attitude
is negative.

But the propaganda,
shouldn't it--

Wilhelm,
everything else is bad.

Wherever you go,
things are bad,

according to you.

MAN, AS von THOMA:
There are a load of
things that are bad.

MAN, AS CRUWELL:
Of course there are.

And for the English,
everything is all right.

I've never said
anything of the sort.

I wouldn't dream of it.

But here in England,
if there's dirty work,

then it's brought up
in Parliament.

At home if you so much
as breathe a word,

you end up
in concentration camp.

MAN, AS CRUWELL:
Of course.

But it's such a pity
that they do that.

NARRATOR: British Intelligence
listened with interest

as their new lab rats
began to fight.

KEVIN FARRELL: The allies
believed that understanding

the German mind,
if you will,

they see this as essential
in the effort to defeat

Nazi Germany.

If we could understand
what makes them tick,

what they're thinking,
it would give us

an advantage
in defeating them.

NARRATOR: The trap
so carefully set by MI19

was working as planned.

The captured generals
brought to Trent Park

were shown full respect
for their rank.

They never imagined
the lavish treatment was

part of an ingenious plan
to catch them off-guard.

[Radio program playing]

NEITZEL: The German
generals, they're

really astonished at how
nice it was in Trent Park.

I mean, they were supplied
with newspapers.

They could listen
to the radio.

Sometimes, they struggled
with the British food.

But normally, they were
quite comfortable.

The British obviously
did this

not because they were caring
for these generals.

Because they knew,
"if we treat them well,

they will speak."

[Conversation in German]

[Voice of man
reading translation]
"...villages of Europe

"under our absolute
control.

"I am firmly convinced
that is the only way

"that western
civilization

can be saved..."

FARRELL: Having access
to the opinions

of the general officers
gives us a very different

view on the war than, say,
the rank and file

would have provided.

We can see what the generals
themselves thought

of the ultimate chance
of victory,

what they thought of
Adolf Hitler,

what they thought of the Party,

and gain some insight as to
how they were going to proceed

in the future.

Are you ready?

[Engine starts]

NARRATOR: To break the monotony
of confinement

and disarm them further,
the guests, as MI19

liked to call
their captives,

were indulged with day trips
to London

and, on occasion,
to luncheon

at the exclusive Simpson's
on the Strand.

HELEN FRY:
When Churchill finds out

about this, he's
absolutely furious.

I mean, you can imagine
Churchill.

He's absolutely enraged.

NARRATOR: Churchill calms
down when he learned

that the P.O.W.s spoke more
freely when treated well.

In fact, the generals'
whole world was built

on deception.

Nothing was what it seemed.

And that included
Lord Aberfeldy,

their welfare officer.

FRY: Of course,
he wasn't a real lord.

He was
an MI19 officer.

But he gained
their trust

because they kind of
began to believe

that he was
on their side

in an odd sort of way.

But, of course,
little did they know,

these German generals,

that even the trees
were bugged.

NARRATOR: Once
Lord Aberfeldy had earned

their trust,
he exploited it.

His casual questions were
deliberately leading

and timed to be within
range of a microphone.

I've read that
the generals

are taking over now

and that the Nazi
Party is

being pushed aside
to some extent.

If things get really bad,
the Party will go,

I can assure you,

because so much hatred
has been stored up.

But, of course, they'll
try everything possible

in order to stay in power.

But, no. A few thousand
Gestapo men can't keep down

a people of 18 million

if the people are
no longer with them.

But the SS at home,
couldn't the SS

suppress a revolutionary
movement?

No. If it really
broke down,

it would be impossible.

NEITZEL: His real name
was Ian Munroe.

And the British went
even so far

to put him in
a distant relationship

to the royal family.

So they felt
quite impressed.

[Indistinct singing
on radio]

MEN: ? Working
for the BBC... ?

MAN: ? Graham...

NARRATOR: The generals were
supplied with a radio,

books, newspapers.

Keeping them in touch with
the outside world provoked

useful conversations.

[Singing on radio continues]

ANNOUNCER ON RADIO:
The triumphant conclusion

of theattle of Stalingrad

with the capture of
8 more German generals

and 45,000 other prisoners
in the past two days

has overshadowed the rest
of the news from Russia...

NARRATOR: And it was radio
news of the German defeat

at Stalingrad that gave

Trent Park
its biggest breakthrough.

[Explosions]

FARRELL: The defeat at
Stalingrad affected

the German generals
profoundly.

This is the first
all-out defeat.

It was unambiguous.
It was a disaster.

NARRATOR: The humiliating
surrender of General Paulus

brought even von Thoma
and Cruwell together

in shared dismay.

I would have rather
blown my brains out.

I am bitterly
disappointed.

Bitterly disappointed
in Paulus.

Yes. Yes,
It's terrible.

And that so many
generals
surrendered.

MAN, AS VON THOMA:
Frightful.

26 of them.

NARRATOR: The possibility
of military defeat was

a bitter prospect for
such proud warriors.

Later, von Thoma discussed
with Cruwell

a new secret weapon
that might yet save

their beloved fatherland.

MAN, AS von THOMA:
This rocket business...

I saw it once.

There's a special
testing site.

And they've got these
huge things.

They said they'd got up
15 kilometers

into the stratosphere.

How do you aim?

You can only aim
at an area

or at some
central point.

But you're bound to hit
something.

It's horrible.

But the major there
was full of hope.

He said,
"Wait until next year

and the fun will start."

It was all very secret.

NARRATOR: Von Thoma
was talking about

the deadly V-2 being
tested at Peenem?nde

on the north German coast.

It was the first rocket fired
through the stratosphere.

And there was
no defense against it.

Von Thoma provided
conclusive evidence

that the terrifying
weapon did exist.

FARRELL: This was crucial
information

for British Intelligence.

No longer is it in the realm
of whispers or hearsay

or what-it-is.

These are two high ranking
individuals that have

knowledge of a top-secret
program that the Germans

hope will turn the war
in their favor.

[Explosions]

NARRATOR: Von Thoma's evidence
persuaded bomber command

to carry out a risky raid
on Peenem?nde.

The V-2 site was destroyed,

and the rocket's use delayed
by several months,

buying the allies
valuable time.

FARRELL: The V-2 certainly
could have had

a dramatic impact on
the alliedandings at Normandy.

Certainly, they wouldn't
have gone off as planned,

and they might have failed
overall.

NARRATOR: But it wasn't
just operational secrets

that MI19 hoped to gather.

Factions began to form
between the generals--

those who supported
the Nazis

and those who did not.

MAN, AS von THOMA:
Every day that
this war continues

constitutes
a war crime.

They should put
Adolf Hitler
in a padded cell.

LEVINE: And it was
very important

that these people
revealed their secrets

because if they were
with the Nazis,

then Hitler had a future.

If they were against
the Nazis, there was

a possibility there
might be a coup;

there was a possibility
that Germany might go

in a different direction.

So it was very important
the British understood

the thought processes of
this officer class.

NARRATOR: General Cruwell
headed those

who supported the F?hrer

while General von Thoma
led the anti-Nazi faction.

MAN, AS CRUWELL:
I always say,

no matter how many faults
this system has,

nor how wrong it is,

I have served
under this system.

I have fought
under this system.

My soldiers have fallen
under this system.

So I cannot
at the moment,
if things go wrong,

say to hell with it.

No, I won't do that.

NEITZEL: Cruwell was
fighting for his F?hrer.

He was fighting for Hitler.

And he tried to take

all these ideas of
the Third Reich seriously.

And, obviously, he also
saw negative things,

but he tried to avoid that

and to put this
under the carpet somehow.

I regret every bomb,

every scrap
of material

and every human life
that's still being wasted

in this senseless war.

The only gain it
will bring us is

an end to 10 years
of gangster rule.

FARRELL: Von Thoma represents
the traditional German officer.

He's well-read; he's old-world,
if you would.

He's very comfortable
with academic

and intellectual circles.

Such an individual with
such a background would look

at a relatively low-born, coarse
individual like Adolf Hitler,

he would have looked at him
with suspicion,

if not outright disgust.

NARRATOR:
Hostilities came to a head

when a young officer told
Cruwell that von Thoma

had made derogatory remarks
about the F?hrer.

Acting on this report,

Cruwell confronted
von Thoma,

and the recorders captured
the angry exchange.

I would like to discuss
something with you.

Certainly.

Hubbuch came to see me

and asked me to tell you
not to try to influence him

with propaganda.

What's all this about?

He said you gave him your
views on the situation.

Because he talked
such a damned load
of nonsense.

He fancies
saying all English
newspapers are Jewish.

I have a thoroughly
good impression of him.

But the boy is bound
to feel upset

when you say to him,

"Hitler isn't normal."

It's common knowledge
he's not normal.

I don't agree.

I also know that you're
saying that to everyone.

And I know that a great many
people take exception to it.

Don't make any mistake
about that.

A great many people here
are not at all amused...

when you say that.
All right.

Tell me who they are.

I shall be delighted
to tell you.

Well, tell me, then.

Well, I must ask them first.

All right, then.
Bring them to me.

I will.
Then we'll see
what happens.

Right. I will.

And they should come
with you.

I'll see
to that.

With you.
I will.

[Scoffs]

NARRATOR: As the generals
in Trent Park argued

over Hitler's sanity,
the listeners heard accounts

of just how far
that madness had spread.

MAN ON RECORDING:
We saw one of these
executions once.

Believe me, if you'd
have seen it,

it would have made
you shudder.

Did they shoot them
with machine guns?

With submachine guns.

NARRATOR: Horst Minnieur
was one of the new group

of P.O.W.s who saw action
on the Eastern Front.

[Gunfire]

They were the Shock Troops,
participating in the Nazis'

ideological fight against
Jews and communists.

And in a special decree
signed by Hitler himself,

they were given free rein
to act without restraint.

FARRELL:
The war in the East is
a completely different war.

Torture is not prohibited.

In fact, the civilian population
is quite literally eliminated

in many cases

and always
treated ruthlessly.

We were actually there
when a pretty girl was shot.

That's too bad.

But she knew
she was gonna be shot.

We were going past
the motorcycles,

and we saw a procession.

And suddenly she called
to us, and she said

that they were going
to be shot.

And at first, we thought
she was making
some sort of joke.

But did she walk there
in her clothes?

Yes. She was
smartly dressed.

She certainly was
an incredible girl.

Surely the one who shot
her shot wide.

Nobody could do anything
about it.

The guys were standing there
with their machine guns.

They clipped on a magazine,
fired to the right
and to the left,

and that was that.

It didn't matter whether
they were still alive or not.

When they were hit,
they fell over
backwards into a pit.

And then the next lot
came up.

What about the people
who were in there

who were not
dead yet?

Well, that's bad luck for
them. They died down there.

[Laughing]

And I can tell you, you
heard a terrific screaming

and shrieking.

Were you watching

when the pretty Jewess
was there?

No, we weren't
there then.

All we know is that
she was shot.

Well, had you met
her before?

Yes, she cleaned
our barracks.

The week we were
staying there,

we went to the barracks
to sleep

so we didn't have
to stay outside.

I'll bet she
let you sleep
with her, too.

Yes, but you had to
be careful not to
be found out.

It's nothing new.

It was really a scandal
the way we slept
with Jewish women.

What did she say?

Well, we--we
chatted together,

and she said she was
at G?ttingen University.

And a girl like that
let anyone sleep
with her?

Yes. I mean, you
couldn't tell that
she was a Jewess.

She was quite
a nice type, too.

It was just her bad luck
that she had to die
with the others.

75,000 Jews
were shot there.

NARRATOR: For many
of the listeners,

these shocking confessions
carried an added chill.

It was really a scandal
the way we slept
with Jewish women.

The stories of killing Jews
touched them personally.

LUSTIG, VOICE-OVER:
We all tried not to get
emotionally involved in it.

We tried to remain detached
from what we heard.

NARRATOR: Lustig was
a German Jewish refugee

with relatives left
behind in Berlin.

For the bugging operation
to work properly,

MI19 needed hundreds
of native German speakers,

men who were also committed
to the allied cause.

FRY: The answer was actually
staring them in the face,

and it was in the British Army's
Pioneer Corps,

where a number
of German Jewish refugees

were serving
in British Army uniform.

They had fled Nazi persecution,

and now they were giving
something back to Britain

for saving their lives.

LUSTIG: We felt that what
we were doing was in a way

retribution for what
the Nazis had done to us
and to other Jews.

We felt we were
getting back at them,

and that was very satisfying.

When I told English people
at first that I had joined

the British Army
during the war,

their reaction would often be
"How awful for you

to have to fight
your own people."

They cannot understand
that they were not
our own people anymore.

They were our enemies,

and we wanted to fight them,
we had to fight them.

NARRATOR: Fritz and his
fellow listeners amassed

damning evidence
of German war crimes,

but there were still
far darker secrets to come.

By the end of 1943,
the war had turned
against Germany.

North Africa was lost,
the Italians had surrendered,

and in Russia, the Germans
were decisively defeated

at the world's largest ever
tank battle at Kursk.

[Static]

[People singing
"Stille Nacht" in German]

For the captured generals
at Trent Park,

the grim reality
of Germany's future

was finally sinking in.

Heh heh he

[Speaking German]

We can't win the war unless
a miracle happens.

Only a few complete idiots
still believe we can.

NARRATOR: For months,
the listeners could hear

growing anxiety,
recrimination, and guilt

in the voices
of the generals.

He told me the kind
of things that happened.

I know myself that there
were savage, brutalized
louts there

who trampled
on the bellies
of pregnant women

and...that sort of...

yes, but these are
very isolated cases

for which even
the SS can't
be blamed.

I cannot believe
that Germans would
do such a thing!

I don't think I should
have believed it myself

if I hadn't
actually seen it.

I am the last
to defend such
atrocities,

but you must admit
that we were bound
to take

the most incredibly
severe measures

to combat
the illegal
guerrilla warfare

in those
vast territories.

But the women had
nothing whatever
to do with it.

FARRELL: Cruwell probably
finds it difficult

to believe these atrocities
because now he's faced

with the specter not only
of a lost war

but a criminal war, as well.

If you listen to
the gentlemen here,

we've done nothing
else but kill
everyone off,

but if you ask,

they were never
present themselves.

They heard about it
from von Thoma.

NARRATOR: The confessions
of the unwitting prisoners

would have shaken
even Cruwell's convictions.

These recordings
are powerful evidence

of atrocities committed
not just by Hitler's elite SS

but also by
regular German forces.

Luftwaffe pilot Fried
described what happened

after a routine
transport flight.

I was at Radom once

and had my mid-day meal
with the Waffen-SS
battalion there.

An SS captain
or whatever he was said,

"Would you like to come
along for half an hour?

Get a machine gun.
Let's go."

so I went along.

I had an hour to spare,

and we went
to some barracks,

and there we slaughtered
1,500 Jews.

There were some 20 men
with machine guns.

It was over
in a couple of seconds,

and nobody thought
anything of it.

You fired, too?

Yes, I did.

There were women
and children there, too.

They were inside,
as well?

Whole families,

some screaming terribly.

Others were just apathetic.

FARRELL: One of the myths
to come out of the war

was that the mass murder,
genocide was committed
by the Waffen-SS.

We know now that that was
just that, a myth,

that the Army was complicitous
in carrying out the crimes

of the Third Reich.

This case shows us that
conclusively.

What? You fired?

Yes, I did.

There were women
and children there, too.

NARRATOR:
The brutality is shocking,

but the transcripts
raise a question--

How could an ordinary person
become a genocidal murderer?

FRIED: Some screaming terribly.
Others were just apathetic.

What I find
particularly powerful

about this extract is precisely
that it's so matter-of-fact.

This man doesn't
have to spit hate,

this man doesn't have to
tell you lurid stories

about why the Jews are so awful
and why it's OK to kill them.

He just assumes that nobody will
have a problem with doing this.

People can kill,
they can do appalling things

when they can believe that
what they are doing is good,

is even noble,

and Himmler
encompassed that idea

in a very powerful metaphor.

He described killing
Jewish people like killing
the rats in the sewers--

it's a horrible job,
nobody wants to do it,

but only the noblest people
are prepared

to descend into the sewers
to carry out the dirty task

in order to preserve
civilization up above.

NARRATOR: Just 4 days
after Fried confessed

his involvement
in mass extermination,

the generals at Trent rk
prepared to celebrate
the F?hrer's birthday.

[Band playing on radio]

ABERFELDY, VOICE-OVER: Hitler's
health will be drunk in beer.

It's agreed
by the Nazi P.O.W.s

that it's a great pity
that this will have
to be English beer.

Cruwell is very worried

in case Thoma refuses
to stand up and drink
Hitler's health.

Gentlemen, to the F?hrer.

To the F?hrer!

[Band playing on radio]

NARRATOR: But Cruwell did not
know about the reports

trickling in detailing
the SS's activities
in the death camps.

[Man speaking German]

I've heard talk
about the Auschwitz
concentration camp

in Poland.

It's a hutted camp
for Jews,

and I've heard say
that no one who
enters the camp

comes out alive.

NARRATOR: This direct evidence
was recorded 4 months

before the Allies accepted
the existence of Auschwitz,

but, in what would later become
a highly controversial decision,

no action was taken.

FARRELL: At the time,
there can be no doubt

that they were aware
that bad things were happening,

but I think in the minds of
the Allied senior leaders,

the most effective way
to end these atrocities

would be to end the war itself
as quickly as possible,

and that meant destroying
Germany's ability

to wage the war.

[Men shouting]

[Machine guns firing]

MAN ON RADIO: The British,
Canadian, and American troops

who landed
on the coast of France

north of the lovely town of Caen
in broad daylight this morning

are already
several miles inland...

NARRATOR: As the Allies
advanced through Normandy,

more prisoners arrived
from liberated France.

MAN ON RADIO: They are
pushing steadily on,

backed by
the tremendous firepower

of heavy British
and United States warships.

[Explosion]

NARRATOR: Among them was
the General Paul von Felbert,

who vehemently
opposed the Nazis.

He surrendered
with little resistance

and in his absence was sentenced
to death for cowardice

by Hitler himself.

A conversation he had
with fellow inmate
General Heinrich Kittel

provided the Allies
with disturbing intelligence.

Were you also in places
where Jews had been
liquidated?

Yes.

And this was carried out
quite methodically?

Yes.

Women and children,
everybody?

Everybody.

It was horrible.

For instance,
in Latvia
near Dvinsk,

there were mass
executions of Jews
by the SS.

I got up and went
outside and said,

"What the hell
is all this
shooting about?"

The orderly said
to me, "You ought to
go over there, sir.

You'll
see something."

300 men had been
driven in
from the town.

They dug
a communal grave,

then marched home
again.

Next day, along
they came again,

men, women,
and children.

The executioners
first laid all
the clothes out

in a big pile,

and then 20 women
were made to take up
their positions

naked on the edge
of the trench.

Someone gave
the command,

and the 20 women
dropped like 9-pins

down
into the trench.

I went away,
and I thought,

"I'm gonna
do something
about this."

So I went over
to the security
service man,

and I said,
"Once and for all,

"I forbid these
outside executions

"where people
can look on.

"If you want to
kill people
in the woods

"or somewhere where
no one can see,

"that's
your business,

"but I
absolutely forbid

another day's
shooting here!

"We draw our
drinking water
from deep springs.

We get nothing
but corpse water."

What did they do
to the children?

They seized
3-year-olds
by their hair,

held them up,
and shot them
with their pistols,

threw them in.

Saw it for myself.

That's why
everyone hates us!

Not because
of this one incident!

Because of all
these murders!

If one were to
destroy all the Jews

in the world
simultaneously,

there wouldn't be
anyone left to do
the accusing.

It's obvious
it's such a scandal!

We don't need a Jew
to accuse us.

We ourselves
must bring the charge!

We must accuse those
who have done it!

Then we have to
admit that our
government

is all wrong.

It is!

It's obvious
that it's wrong!

There's no doubt
about it.

Such a thing
is unbelievable.

We are the tools!

NARRATOR: Kittel's account
ofhe massacre

was carefully filed way
for future war crime trials.

He saw the mass killings,
he saw the mass shootings,

and he might have been
in the position to say,

"No, we have to stop this."

NARRATOR: The generals grew
increasingly volatile.

This tension reflected what
was happening in Germany,

and then a shocking turn
of events revealed

just how bad things were
for the Nazis.

[Man speaking German on radio]

[German continues]

NARRATOR: MI19 urgently needed
the generals' reaction

to this attempt
on Hitler's life.

[German continues]

They made sure no one missed
the German radio broadcast.

[German continues]

ABERFELDY:
Who is this Stauffenberg?

What happened?

He threw the bomb,

a Count Stauffenberg,
a colonel.

He was on my staff.

He's been shot.

Good God!
It can't be true.

An excellent man
like that?

He was my
operations officer.

Has Himmler taken
over the Army?

Yes.

Now there will be
a massacre in Germany.

We can only guess
the scale.

It's already started.

And no one will die
of natural causes.

I heard Hitler's
broadcast.

He said that the bomb
exploded two meters
away from him.

Even so,
he wasn't wounded.

Well, excuse me,
gentlemen.

This is the end.

Good God.

Why did the bomb
have to be so small?

VON THOMA: He didn't
want to kill any
of the others.

Yes, but that just
can't be helped.

It must have been
a hand grenade.

It can't have been
anything larger.

Good God! Good, old
Stauffenberg!

My God. It's a tragedy
that he missed.

Yes. It really is.

NARRATOR: Though
the assassination failed,

it signaled
the beginning of the end.

As the Allies advanced,
fresh prisoners brought news

of a regime
in its death throes.

[Speaking German]

4 weeks after the assassination
attempt on Hitler,

the puffed-up
General Dietrich von Choltitz,

ex-commander of Paris,

was captured
and sent to Trent Park.

Ha ha ha!

NARRATOR:
With his arrival came news

of Hitler's state of mind,

and the listeners recorded
his every word.

[Von Choltitz speaks German]

Hitler hates us.

Oh, yes.
He hates us.

Yes. I saw Hitler
4 weeks ago.

What kind of impression
did he make?

Oh! God.

Well, it was shortly
after the assassination attempt,

and he was still rather
the worse for wear.

Was he still injured?

Well, he's more worn out
than anything else.

He has put on
almost 8 kilos.

Mentally he's ill,
he's very ill.

I went into the room,
and there he stood,

a fat, broken-down old man

with festering sores
on his hands.

They'd been scratched
a bit as a result

of the attempt
on his life.

I always felt sorry
for him.

He said, "A people
which does not surrender
can never be defeated!"

[All laughing]

We all went out for lunch.

250 generals were rushed
by air from the front,

and he talked and talked.

After about 7 minutes,
40% of the generals
were all snoring!

Ha! But as usual,
once he's worked up,
he notices nothing!

Ha ha ha!

NARRATOR: But while von Choltitz

amused the generals
with Hitler gossip,

MI19 was about to hear
the Nazis' darkest secret.

You've no idea of the amount
of people killed

at Buchenwald
while I was there.

It could easily be
about 30,000.

NARRATOR: Accused
of being a communist,

Private Pfaffenberger was
a political prisoner

for more than 7 years
at the Buchenwald death camp.

He was only released
when Germany became
desperate for soldiers.

PFAFFENBERGER:
The senior inmate
in each hut told us,

"All those who have
tattoo marks are
to report to me."

Needed about 100 of them.

Those who had
attractive tattoo marks

were injected
and killed.

They were handed over
to the pathologists,

who removed as large
a piece of skin as they needed

with the tattoo mark on it,

and the rest of the body
was taken to the crematorium

and burnt.

The pieces of skin
were impregnated and tanned.

The wife of the commandant
got them,

and she had a lampshade
made out of them.

Human skin tans wonderfully.

I've held pieces
in my hand.

I wanted to steal a couple.

LUSTIG: Any mention
of atrocities were recorded.

The records were
specially marked in red

because they were
possibly used later on

for war crime trials.

NARRATOR: Pfaffenberger's
account of the death camps

was one of the earliest
detailed descriptions
the Allies had.

LEVINE: It says here--at the top
of Pfaffenberger's transcript,

it says, "His statements
appear fantastic,

but they're given
for what they're worth."

In other words,
the people listening to this,

hearing it, they couldn't
actually believe

these could be true,
these could be taken seriously,

and of course this
a legacy of the Nazis.

von THOMA: This is
the great tragedy
in our history,

that we needed such
a terrible lost war as this

to come to our senses.

NARRATOR: For Cruwell
and his followers,

their world and its values
were in ruins.

ABERFELDY: Cruwell has been
heading for mental disaster.

He quite openly admits that he's
getting into a nervous state.

At any time, he's to be found
alone in his room

staring into space
or fumbling with patience cards.

[Radio crackling]

WOMAN: We are interrupting
our program

to bring you a news flash.

MAN: The German radio
has just announced
that Hitler is dead.

I repeat that.

The German radio
has just announced
that Hitler is dead.

FARRELL: As the end
of the war approaches

and it's clearly a lost war,

it's a day of reckoning,
if you will,

and they're going to have to
account how it got to be

the way that it was

and what their
individual roles were.

I am certain to be named
as a war criminal.

18,000 Jews killed
at Rostov.

Of course I had
nothing to do with
that whole business.

I was the only
known general there.

By the way, I'm going
to hold my tongue
about what little I do know

until such time
as they pick me out.

The worst job
I ever carried out,

which however I carried
out with great efficiency,

was the liquidation
of Jews.

I carried out
this order down to
the very last detail.

The whole thing
was done on
Hitler's orders.

[Music playing in newsreel]

NARRATOR: With the war over,

MI19 confronted their guests

with the shame
of the regime they served.

NEWSREEL ANNOUNCER:
General Eisenhower comes
to see with his own eyes

the atrocities
in Nazi prison camps

captured by the Allied Armies.

He orders German civilians
to be compelled

to come and look
at the ghastly evidence,

among them a Nazi officer
who was a commander of the camp.

Reluctant, the Nazi officer,
a camp commander,

knows well enough
what he'll see.

That's the only thing
about the thousand-year
Reich which will last

for a thousand years.

Yes. We are disgraced
for all time.

If you're asking
did we deserve victory,

I say no,

not after what
we've done,

not after all
the human blood we've shed.

I see now
we deserved defeat.

We deserve our fate.

NARRATOR: As they stripped
the stately homes

of listening equipment,
MI19 faced a choice.

They had 50,000 pages
of damning transcripts,

but releasing them meant
revealing their methods
of espionage.

FRY: Now Churchill wanted them
released for war crimes trials,

and what's now emerging is
there was an intense debate

within British Intelligence
over whether the files

should or should not
be released.

NEITZEL: So there's an exchange
of letters--

"What should we do
with this material?

Should we use this
in the Nuremburg Trials,
for example?"

And the answer was
very clear.

"No. We were very successful.

"We want to be successful
in the future, as well,

"so keep it secret,
close your mouth,

and we lock it away."

[Indistinct chatter]

NARRATOR: In the end,
the British chose to protect

their new methods
for the coming Cold War,

even at the expense of justice.

Not one of Trent Pa's
prisoners was ever convicted

of a single war crime
on the basis of what they said

while imprisoned.

[Camera clicks]