"AUDIO OF ADOLF HITLER GIVING SPEECH" "Adolf Hitler, the leader of a country rich in culture at the heart of Europe." "A man incapable of normal human relationships, lacking all compassion, filled with hatred and prejudice." "Here, long before the Second World War," "Hitler was speaking about his political opponents with brutality," ""vernichtet", meaning destroyed." "'Vernichtet!" "'Vernichtet!" "'Vernichtet!" "Hitler's hatred would lead to the Holocaust." "His desire for conquest would leave much of Europe in ruins." "Yet this man, so full of anger, was once loved by millions." "Here, in the mountains of southern Germany during the 1930s, lay a place of pilgrimage." "On the slopes of the Obersalzberg was Adolf Hitler's home, the Berghof." "And this is what many people thought of him." "'I myself had the feeling that here was a man 'who did not think about himself and his own advantage, 'but solely about the good of the German people.'" "This film reveals why Hitler was so attractive to these people, with insights from those who lived through these times, many of whom were interviewed by the BBC over the last 20 years." "'The man gave off such a charisma 'that people believed whatever he said.'" "But the truth is that Hitler did not somehow hypnotise the German people, for this is a history that shows how charisma is created in a relationship." "Hitler said that those Germans he considered racially pure were better than anyone else, and many German believed him." "Hitler, always filled with hatred, managed to make a connection with millions of Germans, and in the process, this seemingly unlikely figure generated a level of charismatic attraction that is almost without parallel in history." "Munich, in southern Germany." "In 1913, the home to a strange 24-year-old Austrian, somebody nobody at the time considered remotely charismatic," "Adolf Hitler." "He rented a room from a tailor, and scraped a living painting pictures of Munich, similar to this, for tourists." "He felt bitter and angry that his dreams of being a great artist had come to nothing." "A previous flatmate," "August Kubizek, described Hitler like this." "'Unleashing a torrent of hatred, he would pour his fury over everything.'" "And Hitler would almost certainly have remained an unknown painter if it hadn't been for a momentous event in world history..." "..the First World War." "Hitler, as an ordinary soldier, fought over these fields in France." "'To the left and right, shrapnel abursting, 'and in between, the English bullets whistle." "'But we don't care." "'Every one of us has only one wish, 'to settle the score with that gang out there once and for all, 'whatever the cost.'" "Though brave - he won the Iron Cross - his comrades still thought Hitler a bit weird." "One of them, Balthasar Brandmayer, said..." "But what is extraordinary is that the very qualities that made Hitler appear so peculiar to his comrades would shortly help make him appear charismatic to thousands." "For Hitler's character never really changed, but the situation did, when Germany lost the war." "In November 1918, the war ended." "More than two million Germans had died in this war, and all that their sacrifice seemed to have achieved was a humiliating defeat." "In the aftermath of this lost war came riots on the streets of Germany and a socialist revolution in Berlin." "Some of the leaders of the attempted revolution were Jewish, a fact which fed anti-Semitic prejudice, particularly amongst many of those on the right of German politics." "GERMAN REVOLUTIONARY SONG PLAYS" "Thousands of ex-soldiers formed paramilitary groups called Freikorps in order to fight the revolution." "And these Freikorps already held many of the ideas and beliefs that Hitler would later adopt as his own." "Many Freikorps were hugely anti-Semitic, believing in the fantasy that Jews were responsible both for Communism and Germany's defeat in the war." "And one of the most notorious Freikorps groups even adapted what they took to be a racist symbol, the Hakenkreuz... or Swastika." "Members of the Freikorps called their leaders Fuehrer." "And many of those who would later become infamous as Nazis joined Freikorps... ..like Heinrich Himmler, who would become head of the SS," "Gregor Strasser, one of the most important early leaders in the Nazi party..." "..and Rudolf Hoess, the future commandant of Auschwitz." "But Hitler was not in a Freikorps." "He was back in Munich." "Devastated by the loss of the war and desperate to stay in the army, he seemed lost and directionless." "Captain Karl Mayr knew Hitler in May 1919." "'This time, Hitler was ready to throw in his lot with anyone 'who would show him kindness." "'When I first met him, he was like a tired, stray dog 'looking for a master.'" "But Mayr detected in Hitler qualities he could use." "He decided to train Hitler as a propaganda agent." "Who's that?" "Hitler was sent on a short course here at the University of Munich and then started giving right-wing speeches to his fellow soldiers, warning of the dangers of Communism." "It's only at this point that Hitler's thinking seems to crystallize." "How many of these ideas were already latent within him is still a matter of debate, but what's certain is that in the summer of 1919, he becomes sure of his beliefs." "In a letter he wrote in September 1919," "Hitler called for the removal of the Jews from Germany and a Government of National Strength." "Now, at the age of 30, Hitler had found his mission in life." "And this mission was the first part of his charismatic appeal." "Hitler joined the German Workers' Party, one of a huge number of far-right groups in Munich at the time, and started speaking at meetings in beer halls." "Harsh and theatrical as his speeches appear to us today, at the time, his performances soon got him noticed in Munich." "He seemed to be able to express the anger many people felt, as well as their desire to blame someone else for the problems Germany faced - particularly the Jews." "This speech, from 1933, shows how Hitler's own hatred connected with the audience." "CHEERING AND APPLAUSE" "Many now shared Hitler's warped prejudices, and his intolerance was taken as strength of character." "Hans Frank, who would go on to become a leading Nazi, first heard Hitler speak in 1920." "'Everything came from the heart 'and he struck a chord with all of us." "'He uttered what was in the consciousness of all those present.'" "This is a key insight into charisma." "Because charisma does not exist on its own in anyone." "It exists only in an interaction between an individual and an audience." "An individual like Hitler who was telling the audience what they wanted to hear." "Many of them longed for a charismatic leader to lead them out of misery." "German history was rich in stories of such heroes." "Here, amongst the mountains around Hitler's house, the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa was, according to legend, sleeping - waiting to awaken and fight his final battles." "And one of the most popular tourist attractions of the time was this monument, completed in 1875, to Hermann, a tribal leader who had led the Germans to victory over the Romans nearly 2,000 years before." "This later engraving claims a direct link between Hitler and Hermann." "Both portrayed as German heroes." "And Hermann was so important to the Nazis that Heinrich Himmler took over Wewelsburg Castle nearby in the 1930s, intending this place to be a centre of SS power." "In the crypt of the castle," "Himmler wanted to hold pagan SS ceremonies by the light of an eternal flame." "Above the crypt was a hall, for the leaders of the SS to meet, like the warrior knights of old." "Always subordinate to their heroic master, Adolf Hitler." "'He is a genuinely great man 'and, above all, a true and pure one.'" "Himmler believed that, just as Hermann had once proved to be a superior kind of Germanic hero, 2,000 years ago," "Adolf Hitler would prove to be just such a hero today." "In 1923, the political atmosphere in Munich was tense and unstable." "By now, Hitler had been leader of the National Socialist German Workers' Party, which some called the Nazis, for two years." "And he'd built a large and growing paramilitary organisation - the Stormtroopers." "In November 1923, he decided to act, and to try and spark an uprising in Munich." "On 9th November, the Nazis marched through these streets, but were stopped by the police." "Here, at the corner of the Feldherrnhalle." "Shots were exchanged." "Four police and 16 Nazis were killed that day." "The uprising, or Putsch, had been an incompetent and violent attempt to overthrow a democratic state." "But Hitler managed to turn it into a heroic myth." "This annual re-enactment of the march, filmed after the Nazis came to power, shows just how Hitler tried to create that myth." "Each of the Nazis killed in the Putsch was turned into a martyr." "Their flag became a sacred relic." "Where they were shot became a hallowed site." "Those in attendance were blessed." "Hitler wanted to show how his devoted disciples had died for a great cause, a cause symbolised by their single, heroic leader." "Back in 1924," "Hitler received the minimum sentence possible for his part in the Putsch from a sympathetic judge and was sent to Landsberg Prison." "Here, he wrote a book" " Mein Kampf, or my struggle." "In it, he tried to demonstrate that he possessed the next important element needed by a charismatic leader " "a vision of how the world is and how it ought to be." "A brutal vision." "'He who wants to live, should fight, 'and he who does not want to fight 'in this world of eternal struggle, 'does not deserve to live.'" "Hitler believed that the fact that we are animals is the most important thing about us, and that so-called Aryan Germans were superior animals." "Hitler's vision from Mein Kampf was later expressed in this propaganda film of the 1930s, made after the Nazis came to power." "Once in power, Hitler introduced compulsory sterilisation for selected disabled Germans." "Later, he would authorise the killing of tens of thousands of them." "On 20th December 1924, Hitler was released from Landsberg Prison and set about trying to rebuild the Nazi Party." "Despite writing Mein Kampf," "Hitler's charismatic credentials as a revolutionary were still largely based on his reputation as a speaker." "This series of studio photos, taken later in the 1920s, shows how he attempted to demonstrate his dynamic image." "But in the mid 1920s, support for the Nazis was dropping as the economy improved." "And one of the most senior Nazis, Gregor Strasser, wanted the party to be led in a less dictatorial way." "His challenge now was to convince Adolf Hitler to agree with him." "On 14th February 1926, here, in the ancient city of Bamberg," "Hitler held a special conference to deal with Strasser's proposals." "But there was to be no debate." "Hitler just spoke for several hours, repudiating Strasser's ideas and was then cheered by his supporters." "Hitler did not approve of discussion nor of detailed policy." "For a charismatic leader, vagueness is valuable." "This is how he later explained the Nazi Party should operate." "CHEERING" "Hitler worked hard to try and appear charismatic." "One technique he used was his stare." "He would hold the eyes of the person he was looking at longer than was usual." "One Nazi supporter later claimed he felt this when he looked into Hitler's eyes." "'That was one of the most curious moments of my life." "'The gaze, which at first rested completely on me, 'suddenly went straight through me and into an unknown distance." "'It was so strange.'" "But being a Nazi could be difficult if you didn't accept Hitler's charisma." "Here in Bamberg, one of Strasser's close associates was distraught when Hitler chose not to debate policy." "He was a 28-year-old former journalist called Joseph Goebbels, and he wrote in his diary..." ""I no longer fully believe in Hitler." "I am in despair."" "But Hitler recognised the potential value of Goebbels to the Nazi Party, so he now focused his attention directly on Goebbels." "Asking him to Munich, passionately expounding his vision for the future of Germany, and flattering him." "Goebbels was captivated." "Two months after Bamberg, Goebbels wrote in his diary..." "Hitler now had the party he wanted, one built around his strange personality." "Small as the Nazi Party was at the time this footage was shot in the 1920s, most of the elements that would come together to make Hitler be seen as a leader of charisma were already in place." "His mission - to create a racist, Aryan, German state." "The connection he made with his audience via his speeches." "His claim that he possessed strength because he was a proven war hero." "His Darwinian vision, developed in Mein Kampf, which also contained the fantasy that the Jews and Communists were to blame for everything." "But still, if you weren't already inclined to accept Hitler's views, then, you felt he possessed no charisma at all." "'I immediately disliked him because of his scratchy voice." "'He shouted out really, really simple political ideas." "'I thought he wasn't quite normal.'" "'He put forward certain claims that were in no way valid 'and I said to my friend, "My impression after that speech" "'"is that this man Hitler will hopefully" "'"never come to political power."'" "And in 1928, it looked like he never would." "The vast majority of people in Germany were completely immune to Hitler's charisma." "At the election in May 1928, the Nazis gained just 2.6% of the vote." "Hitler's appeal only began to be felt beyond a small group of fanatics because of an economic catastrophe." "In the wake of the Wall Street Crash of 1929, the German economy all but collapsed." "The Weimar government had borrowed money to pay the Allies war reparations and now the debt became too great to service." "Banks crashed, and unemployment soared." "The Nazis gained support, but so did the Communists." "'It was a ray of hope that Socialism would be coming, 'that unemployment would be vanquished, 'that you would have a right to a job and you'd be paid more.'" "In the beer halls, fights between the Nazis and the Communists became almost commonplace." "'Stormtroopers all had a big glass in front of them, 'practically a missile." "'The battle was pretty fierce, 'several people were hospitalized, some Stormtroopers too, 'they had face wounds." "'I had a head wound, I was bleeding.'" "Hitler thrived in this atmosphere of violence and political crisis." "At election rallies, he openly called for the destruction of democracy." "And for a new Germany to be united under his leadership." "MUSIC: "Deutschlandlied" by Joseph Haydn" "'It was our aim that a strong man should have the say, 'and we had such a strong man." "'The people were really hungry." "'It was very, very hard." "'And, in that context," "'Hitler, with his statements, seemed to be the bringer of salvation.'" "Hitler hadn't somehow mesmerised his new followers into acting against their own will." "In this desperate situation, they chose to have faith in a leader they felt had charisma." "But not everybody thought Hitler was the answer to Germany's problems." "President Hindenburg certainly didn't." "Even though in 1932 the Nazis became the biggest party in Germany, he refused to make Hitler Chancellor, calling him the "Bohemian corporal."" "Hitler was offered the job of Vice Chancellor, but he refused to take it." "And some of his supporters saw his obstinacy as heroic." "'Hitler holds his nerve, he is above the machinations." "'I love him when he's like this.'" "But other leading Nazis were not so full of praise for Hitler." "Gregor Strasser, still an important figure in the party, thought that Hitler was stupid to hold out for the Chancellorship." "He had had enough." "'He should realise that he has been 'consistently refused this post by everybody." "'I'm not prepared to wait for the Fuehrer 'to be appointed Reich Chancellor 'as, by then, our movement would have collapsed." "'I'm at the end of my tether, I've resigned from the Party 'and I'm now going to the mountains to recuperate.'" "But some in the German elite were beginning to think that appointing Hitler as Chancellor might be one way out of Germany's problems." "The aristocratic Franz von Papen, a former Chancellor himself, thought Hitler could be a useful figurehead." "Der Mann ist doch ein Ausbund von Kleinbuergertum..." "He didn't find Hitler charismatic, but "curiously unimpressive."" "What they were most frightened of was not Hitler, but the Communists." "Die Kommunisten." "Der Kommunismus." "Das ist die Hauptbedrohung, die ich sehe." "Es muss etwas geschehen..." "And so, von Papen and his friends, backed an idea to make Hitler Chancellor, as long as there were only a few other Nazis in the cabinet." "..Staatsmaennisches Verhalten." "On 30th January 1933, after lobbying from von Papen and others," "Hitler was appointed Chancellor by President Hindenburg." "For Hitler's supporters, this was the strongest proof yet of his power as a charismatic leader." "When it had looked impossible that he would become Chancellor, and many had doubted him, he had asked them to have faith." "And now, he WAS Chancellor." "Von Papen, who was happy to see democracy disappear, became Vice Chancellor." "He still thought he and his friends could control Hitler." "He would shortly discover that he'd made one the most monumental misjudgements in history." "CHEERING" "Hitler talked to the German nation as Chancellor on 10th February 1933." "Thousands were in the hall in front of him, and millions were listening on radio." "But Hitler made them all wait." "When he did start, Hitler stuck to his old familiar script." "His speech was vague in detail and called for Germans to fix their problems without outside help." "APPLAUSE" "But if Hitler didn't consider you a "true" German, then, suddenly, you were at risk." "Thousands of people the Nazis considered enemies of the new regime, mostly their political opponents, but also some Jews, were imprisoned in concentration camps." "This one at Dachau outside Munich was opened just weeks after Hitler became Chancellor." "To begin with, the concentration camps were under the control of the Nazi Stormtroopers." "Here they are parading in triumph through Berlin." "But their ordered marching hid a chaotic and violent reality." "'Everyone is arresting everyone else 'and avoiding the prescribed official channels." "'Everyone is threatening everyone else with protective custody." "'Everyone is threatening everyone else with Dachau.'" "These concentration camps were not yet places of mass killing, but they were brutal in the extreme." "A number of prisoners were murdered, and torture, often psychological torture, was commonplace." "'I was thrown into the bunker and kept in chains." "'We only got something to eat every fourth day." "'Other than that, there was just a jug of water and bread." "'After four days, he said, "You're getting out tomorrow,"" "'but he was just messing around with me." "'They kept saying, "You'll be getting out..." Nothing.'" "Throughout Germany, the reality was obvious " "Hitler led a movement of violent revolutionaries and was brutally suppressing any opposition." "But now he was Chancellor," "Hitler also wanted the support of all of those who lived in this land that he considered "true" Germans." "Nazi Stormtroopers were still as ready to spill the blood of their enemies as they'd always been." "So how could Hitler benefit from the brutality of his Stormtroopers and yet not be blamed for it?" "An early sign of how Hitler would attempt this deception was shown just two months into his Chancellorship." "Hitler's anti-Semitic prejudice knew no bounds." "And on 1st April 1933, with Hitler's approval, the Nazis held a boycott of Jewish shops and businesses that lasted one day." "'I felt like I was falling into a deep hole." "'That was when I intuitively realised for the first time 'that the existing law did not apply to Jews." "'You could do with Jews whatever you liked." "'A Jew was an outlaw.'" "But because Hitler didn't know what the reaction to all this would be, particularly abroad, he didn't want his name associated with it." "The document calling for the boycott was signed only" ""Leadership of the National Socialist German Workers' Party."" "But Hitler was concerned that the Stormtroopers might be getting out of his control, that they were starting to become a threat to the regime itself." "Hitler told them the revolution was over." "But the Stormtroopers wanted to march the revolution ever onwards, staying true to the words of the Nazi anthem, written by Stormtrooper Horst Wessel." "Their leader, Ernst Roehm, even wanted the Stormtroopers to take over the German Army." "But the army didn't want anything to do with this bunch of thugs." "'One rejected the Stormtroopers because of their behaviour." "'Well, at the end, one can almost say 'the Stormtroopers were hated by most soldiers.'" "Von Papen, Hitler's Vice Chancellor, had been gathering complaints about the Stormtroopers." "This was potentially dangerous for Hitler, as von Papen was close to the aged President Hindenburg." "On 17th June 1934, von Papen made a speech openly criticising the Nazis." "'An endless dynamic creates nothing." "'Germany must not become a train into the unknown, 'with no-one knowing when it will stop.'" "But Hitler realised he could turn all this to his advantage and alter the way millions perceived him as a leader." "He just had to be cold-hearted and ruthless." "On 30th June 1934," "Hitler travelled to the shores of the Tegernsee in Bavaria and the health resort of Bad Wiessee." "Roehm and the senior leadership of the Stormtroopers were all on holiday here, at this hotel then called the Hanselbauer." "Hitler and his entourage arrived at 6.30 in the morning." "Hitler walked through the lobby of the hotel and up the stairs to the first floor, where Roehm was asleep in this room." "Hitler, claiming that Roehm was plotting a coup against him, arrested his old comrade along with the other leaders of the Stormtroopers." "Two days later, Roehm was shot." "Many others Hitler held grudges against were killed at the same time." "Gregor Strasser, who had once been a leading Nazi but had quarrelled with Hitler, was also shot." "As for von Papen, two of his aides were murdered, but he was allowed to live, eventually sent to Vienna as German ambassador." "Hitler benefited hugely as a result of the ruthless killing of Roehm and the others." "Now Hitler had seemingly destroyed disorderly elements within his own party, many Germans started to see him for the first time as leader of the nation, not just leader of the Nazis." "On 2nd August 1934, just one month after the murder of Roehm, every member of the German armed forces was ordered to swear an oath of loyalty to Hitler personally." "President Hindenburg had just died, and now Hitler was head of state as well as Chancellor." "ALL:" "Adolf Hitler." "Just a few weeks later, in September 1934," "Hitler was here in Nuremberg for the Nazi Party rally." "The Nazis had first held a rally in Nuremberg in 1927." "But this rally would be remembered more than any other and would play an important part in the creation of a Hitler myth." "Because this rally was filmed for the feature length documentary Triumph Of The Will." "Hitler was portrayed as a flawless, almost God-like leader, descending from the clouds to meet his adoring subjects." "Thanks to Triumph Of The Will, it wasn't just the people who were physically present who experienced the emotional impact of seeing their leader." "Now, millions more could see in cinemas a carefully crafted vision of Hitler." "'For me, the Fuehrer was an inviolable personality - 'the Fuehrer of the German Reich." "'He, whom Providence had given so many gifts." "'He, who was so powerful that he could orchestrate millions.'" "'There was the wish to place power in the hands of a man who says," "'"We will do it, and we will only succeed like this" "'"if we all roll up our sleeves."'" "'It made you sick, but it was fascinating at the same time." "'Hitler didn't promise anything." "'It was always "only for the German people"" "'and "we have to free the people from Marxism."" "'I only admired the technique.'" "'The fact is that Hitler managed to get all of them, 'almost all of them, under the one roof, so to speak." "'To pull them together." "'People said that Hitler had the effect of a magnet 'that was being passed over the heads of the German people.'" "But despite this level of adulation, Hitler had not changed - he was just as hate-filled as ever and so was the regime he led." "The same year Triumph Of The Will was made, 1934," "Alois Pfaller, a German Communist, was taken for questioning by the Nazi secret police - the Gestapo." "'They hit me in the face." "'For three hours." "Always at my face." "'In the meantime, my eardrum had split, 'so then, I heard an incredible racket." "'It was a roaring, an incredible roaring, 'so you couldn't understand anything properly any longer.'" "When Alois suffered a massive haemorrhage, the Gestapo made him clean his own blood off the floor before sending him to a concentration camp." "The reason that this kind of persecution did not, for the most part, damage Hitler amongst the general population was because the perception of many Germans was that Hitler was using violence to bring order." "'Right at the beginning, 'the first Communists and social democrats were carted off," "'I even saw it myself, the lorries." "'It didn't make us think." "'They were only Communists after all, enemies of the people.'" "Hitler was careful to act mostly against groups in German society that many other Germans were already prejudiced against - like Jews and Communists." "Hitler was aware that, as a charismatic leader, the more he targeted carefully defined enemies, the better." "Less than 1% of Germans were Jewish, and few dared to now claim they were Communists." "So the vast majority of Germans were not at risk from persecution... ..as long as they embraced the new world of Nazism." "And since unemployment was falling and the economy seemed to be picking up, many ordinary Germans now felt this was the beginning of a new, more optimistic era." "'At first, you were carried along by a wave of hope, 'because we had it better." "'We had order in the country." "We had, well, security.'" "In particular, the young were taught the Nazi world view." "Most importantly, that Hitler was a flawless leader." "These members of the Hitler Youth were the future soldiers of Germany, from whom Hitler would demand absolute loyalty." "'It was hammered into us even in the Hitler Youth " "'Germany must live, even if we have to die." "'Then, I realised that people in the Hitler Youth 'had a vulgar way of dealing with each other." "'A very unpleasant and violent manner was customary." "'The way, for example, we were told," "'"If your teachers haven't yet grasped this new era," "'"then, smack them in the mouth!"'" "CHEERING" "Now that they were in power, many of those close to Hitler found their belief in him had intensified still further." "'We love Adolf Hitler because we believe, firmly and profoundly, 'that he was sent to us by God to save Germany." "'To those who follow him, 'there is no quality that he does not possess 'to the greatest perfection.'" "No-one even thought it odd when Hitler told them that what they were doing would last for millennia." "CHEERING AND APPLAUSE" "One foreign correspondent who attended the 1934 rally, wrote that some of those present looked on Hitler as a Messiah." "This wasn't an accident." "Hitler later talked of being guided by a mystical force he called "Providence."" "And this belief in himself as a kind of Messiah was a key part of his charismatic appeal." "Not surprisingly, the established churches would, for the most part, have an uneasy relationship with Nazism." "Some clerics even came to reject Hitler." "But there were Christian leaders who reacted to Nazism very differently." "They embraced the regime." "This is a church procession in Muenster in 1934, and the flags displayed, with the swastika replaced by the crucifix, are those of the Deutsche Christen movement, the Nazi supporting branch of the Protestant church." "One leading member of the Deutsche Christen movement referred to Adolf Hitler as the embodiment of the eternal will of God." "Millions of other Christians also supported Hitler." "At a conference of nurses attached to the Protestant church in 1933, one sister called Hitler" ""Germany's Saviour from Bolshevism and Marxism."" "But Hitler was most certainly NOT a practising Christian." "And here, at the site of the Nazi Party rally in Nuremberg, a different sort of spiritual belief was on show." "This incantation of a list of German battles in front of Hitler was allied to the promise that there was a sort of life after death, one in which the dead lived on as part of Germany." "And if this was a religion, then Hitler was its prophet." "Hitler's birthday, celebrated here in Berlin, became a day for national rejoicing." "He was praised for trying to restore Germany's greatness and, in the process, spending enormous sums on the Germany military." "Hitler came to be seen as a leader far above the squabbles of everyday life." "As a result, it became possible for Germans to dislike particular Nazis they dealt with, and yet still respect Hitler." "'There is great sympathy amongst the population for the Fuehrer 'and Reich Chancellor, Adolf Hitler." "'I have never heard any negative comment directed at his own person." "'Rather, one hears now and then," "'"Yes, if Hitler could do everything himself," "'"some things would be different." "'"But he can't keep a watch on everything."'" "This myth that "If Hitler only knew" ""about unpopular aspects of the Nazi regime, he would change them,"" "was a safety valve in the system, one that protected Hitler's image as a charismatic leader." "As Adolf Hitler looked out from his home above Berchtesgaden, he knew he was the undisputed master of Germany." "It had been an incredible journey, from the nobody who had arrived in Munich just before the First World War to Chancellor and Fuehrer of the German people." "But what is just as remarkable is that he was essentially the same character as he had always been." "This home movie footage from the 1930s, of Hitler with these young children, gives a false impression." "He still had no normal emotional attachment to any one individual." "Though he had a girlfriend now, Eva Braun, the relationship was fraught." "He seldom saw her and she attempted suicide twice in the 1930s." "He was still as choking with hatred as he had been in pre-war Vienna." "But Hitler's character defects were an advantage in the times he lived in." "For his lack of compassion and empathy made him one of the least emotionally needy people alive." "As a result, his supporters basked in his apparent strength and certainty." "His rise would prove to be a reminder of what can happen in desperate times." "When you chose to have faith in a leader you think has charisma." "For now, secure in power," "Hitler sat high in the mountains of southern Bavaria and dreamt dreams of brutal conquest." "Adolf Hitler believed he should make all the big decisions entirely himself." "And in 1937, he told his generals that he'd decided on a timetable for German expansion, even if it meant war." "What's surprising about this is that there was no evidence that the majority of Hitler's supporters actually wanted war." "But Hitler couldn't turn his epic vision of a Nazi empire based on conquest into a reality without the support of large numbers of those he led." "To try and convince these people to embrace conflict," "Hitler would use all of the techniques of persuasion he possessed." "Crucially, he would exploit his charismatic appeal." "Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd" "VOICES ECHO DISTANTLY" "MAN SPEAKING IN GERMAN" "CHEERING" "In the 1930s, here in Nuremberg, hundreds of thousands of Germans gathered to pay homage to Adolf Hitler." "Everybody wanted to be close to him." "Just to live in his favour, to be in his presence, to be near him just once, that was the big event for the individual." "Hitler hadn't hypnotised these Germans into supporting him." "They believed in him because of what he'd done and what he'd said." "Not least that he'd told them they were a superior race who would accomplish great things." "But Hitler now faced the greatest test yet to his charismatic leadership." "He wanted to take these people into a war of racial conquest, to gain a vast new empire." "But there was no evidence most of them wanted war." "With insights from those who lived through these times, most of whom were interviewed by the BBC over the last 20 years, this film reveals how Hitler tried to persuade his followers to embrace conflict." "Berlin." "Capital of Germany today, just as it was capital of Germany in the 1930s, when Adolf Hitler was Chancellor." "In 1937, Hitler lived and worked at a building on this site." "This was the Old Reich Chancellery." "And here, Hitler spent much of his time alone in his bedroom where he would listen to what he called his "inner conviction"." "Often, Hitler would not emerge from his bedroom until lunchtime." "For central to his charismatic leadership, was the idea that he made all the big decisions entirely on his own." "Hitler was always certain that he was right." "He didn't even like to read other people's advice." "In 1935, a leading Nazi sent Hitler a paper on youth issues and received this reply from Hitler's adjutant." ""The Fuehrer received it," ""but immediately gave it back to me unread." ""He intends to give a major speech on this issue at the next Party rally" ""and therefore, does not want his thinking" ""to be influenced by anybody in any way."" "Hitler was thought infallible." ""When a decision has to be taken," ""none of us count more than the stones on which we are standing." ""It is the Fuehrer alone who decides."" "And in late 1937, in the isolation of his bedroom, the Fuehrer was thinking about this." "Austria." "This place would be the first test of Hitler's desire to occupy land that was not part of Germany." "The first test of how others would react to his willingness to use brute force to subjugate another country." "Hitler had been born in Austria and passionately wanted this German-speaking country to be under his control." "On 5th November 1937," "Hitler told his military leaders that he'd decided to occupy Austria, and then wanted later to eliminate Czechoslovakia." "But his generals were worried that Hitler would start another war." "It wasn't the reaction Hitler had expected." "He wanted his generals to be like this." ""My generals should be like bull terriers on chains," ""and they should want war, war, war." ""But what happens now?" ""I want to go ahead with strong policies" ""and the generals try to stop me!"" "Within just a few months, three of those who'd been unenthusiastic about Hitler's plans at the meeting were no longer in office." "But still, Hitler didn't feel able to be as ruthless with his military leaders as his fellow dictator Stalin did." "Hitler needed the support of the German officer corps." "The Chief Of Staff of the German army, Ludwig Beck, had welcomed Hitler as Chancellor." "Like many generals, he wasn't against the idea of German expansion, he was just anxious that the German army wasn't strong enough yet to accomplish the task." "But in the end, Hitler's sheer determination won him over." "On the morning of 12th March 1938," "German soldiers crossed the border into neighbouring Austria." "They were greeted not with bullets and guns, but with roses and carnations." "So much so that the action became known as the Blumenkrieg - the war of flowers." ""During my ten years at party conferences" ""or at rallies with Adolf Hitler," ""I had certainly witnessed my share of enthusiasm," ""but the degree of enthusiasm" ""that was prevalent in Austria at that time" ""was not only surprising to us, but also quite unbelievable."" "The Austrian government, destabilised by the Nazis for years, had finally succumbed to Hitler's bullying and offered no resistance." "Most of the Austrian people, envying what they saw as the economic success and prestige that Hitler had brought to Germany, now welcomed their German neighbours." "Hitler's first great gamble of expansion had paid off." "At just before four o'clock in the afternoon of 12th March 1938," "Adolf Hitler drove down this road and crossed over the River Inn, into Austria." "He was coming home." "This town, Braunau am Inn was his birthplace." "And it was in this house that Hitler had first entered the world 49 years before." "The crowds were so ecstatic that Hitler's motorcade took several hours to reach the city of Linz, the place Hitler had gone to school and lived for much of his youth." "The welcome here was the most tumultuous yet." ""I think we cried, most of us, at that time." ""Tears were running down our cheeks," ""and when we looked at the neighbours, it was the same." "" 'You all,' and he said that to us," "" 'You all shall help me build up my empire to be a good empire" "" 'with happy people who are thinking and promising to be good people.' "" "Something extraordinary happened to Hitler that night in Linz." "Something that demonstrates how charismatic leadership is about a connection between the leader and the led." "For Hitler only decided NOW, once he'd witnessed the joyous reaction of the people of Linz, that Austria should formally become a part of Germany, rather than remain a separate country within the Nazi empire, as he'd originally planned." "It was as if the people had changed his mind for him." "Hitler moved on to Vienna." "And his emotional state would have been heightened even more by what happened next." "It was here, as an unknown young man, struggling to survive before the First World War, that he had dreamt dreams of greatness." "At the Vienna opera, he'd seen Wagner's heroic opera Lohengrin over and over again." "And now, 25 years later, here on the Heldenplatz, the Heroes' Square in front of the Hofburg Palace, more than 200,000 people gathered to see Hitler." "In this city, Hitler had once longed to be a hero." "And now, to the cheering crowd in front of him, he was one." "CHEERING" "All the most important elements of Hitler's charismatic attraction were on show here in Austria." "His mission to unite all Germans under his rule." "His ability to establish a connection and express what his audience were wanting and feeling." "His vision of a racist state, filled only with those he thought "true" Germans." "The hope he offered these people in their economic crisis." "His certainty that all would come well... ..now that Germany and Austria were united." "A final part of Hitler's charisma was also on show - one that appealed to people's prejudice." "His capacity to hate." "GLASS SHATTERING" "Tens of thousands of Hitler's political opponents in Austria were arrested, with many sent to concentration camps." "In particular, Austrian Jews suffered, many violently attacked, robbed and humiliated." "Some forced to scrub the streets clean." ""There was no protection from anywhere." ""I remember I once had to scrub the streets as well." ""I saw in the crowd a well-dressed woman" ""and she was holding up a little girl" ""so that this girl could see better."" "Hitler blamed the Jews for Germany's and Austria's defeat in the First World War, for Communism, and for much else besides." "And many believed these anti-Semitic fantasies." "Around ten per cent of the population of Vienna was Jewish, with many Jews concentrated in this area in the north of the city." "Few of their fellow Austrians helped the Jews, some were glad to see them go." "The Nazis now organised a plebiscite, a vote of approval, not just in the unification of Austria and Germany, but, crucially, in Hitler himself." "The Nazi propaganda campaign was focused on Hitler, and Austrians were taught the three united values of their new state - one people, one reich, one leader." "In a demonstration of how central he was personally to this whole system," "Hitler travelled across Austria on a campaign tour." "ALL:" "Heil!" "Heil!" "Heil!" "ALL:" "Heil!" "Heil!" "Heil!" "ALL:" "Heil!" "Heil!" "Heil!" "ALL:" "Heil!" "Heil!" "Heil!" "The vote was held on 10th April 1938 and both Austrians and Germans were asked if they agreed with the unification of the two countries and with Adolf Hitler." "Several hundred thousand Austrians, mostly Jews and the Nazis' political opponents, were denied the right to vote." "And for those who did vote, there was a hint on the ballot paper of what their choice should be, with the space for "Yes" much bigger than the space for "No"." "More than 99% of Austrians voted for Hitler." "Hitler emerged from his Austrian adventure stronger than he had ever been." "And now he wanted to take over Czechoslovakia." "General Ludwig Beck wrote a warning memo and read it in May 1938 to the head of the army." "Those who worked closely with Hitler were now split into two camps - those who believed in Hitler's charisma, like Hermann Goering who had absolutely faith in his judgment, and the more pragmatic supporters, like Ludwig Beck." "He liked a great deal of what Hitler was doing, particularly the strengthening of the armed forces with more planes and more armaments, but feared he was leading the Germans into a war they would lose." "What wasn't clear was just how many in the military might be prepared to try and restrain Hitler, and how many simply trusted him and would follow where he led." "THEY SPEAK GERMAN" "A clue to the prevailing mood came in June 1938 when a number of officers gathered to discuss Beck's views, their words later recalled by one of those who heard them speak." "THEY SPEAK GERMAN" "THEY CHUCKLE" "Hitler had now been in power for more than five years." "Years in which the Nazis had sought to influence every aspect of German life." "This traditional festival, held in Muehleberg in central Germany, shows just how successful the Nazis had been." "In particular, Hitler targeted the young." "He wanted them to be indoctrinated with Nazi beliefs almost as soon as they could walk." "CHEERING AND APPLAUSE" "CHEERING" ""There was God himself, we young people believed all of that."" "Young people weren't just being taught to all but worship Adolf Hitler." "They learnt his racist, hate-filled values as well - that they were better than everyone else, and that they should despise the weak." "What mattered in life was to be strong." "MUSIC:" "Es Zittern Die Morschen Knochen by Hans Baumann" "Hitler made big decisions in isolation." "And when he had the biggest decisions of all to make, he liked to come here - to the mountains of Southern Bavaria near the border with Austria." "In the summer of 1938, he was asking himself if he was prepared to risk war with Britain, France, maybe even the Soviet Union as well." "All over the question of Czechoslovakia." "Almost every day," "Hitler would take an afternoon walk down the slopes of the Obersalzberg and then, be driven back to his house - the Berghof." "And almost every day, the tension grew greater and greater." "Hitler said openly in the 1930s that he wanted to gain back for Germany the land lost as a result of defeat in the First World War and gather all ethnic Germans under his rule." "And the border region of Czechoslovakia, the Sudetenland, contained several million ethnic Germans." "But, in reality, as he'd written in his book Mein Kampf back in 1924, his ambitions were much greater." "He wanted to gain a huge new empire for Germany in the west of the Soviet Union." "But he knew that, whilst millions of Germans wanted to get back the land they'd lost, they didn't want to fight a massive war of conquest." "And, as a charismatic leader, he wanted the majority to support him." "So he hid his grand ambitions behind the smoke screen of simply saying he wanted to right the wrongs of the territorial settlement at the end of the First World War." "Most in the adoring crowds who attended the national Nazi Party rally in Nuremberg were unaware that, soon, Hitler wanted to try and create a vast new German empire." "Even though in a few of his speeches in the 1930s," "Hitler dropped hints that Germany's problem was that it just wasn't big enough." "ALL:" "Heil, Hitler!" "Heil, Hitler!" "CHEERING" "MUSIC:" "God Save The King" "In the autumn of 1938," "Neville Chamberlain, the British Prime Minister, flew to Germany to meet Hitler." "When I come back," "I hope I may be able to say as Hotspur says in Henry IV," ""Out of this little danger," ""we plucked this flower, safety."" "CHEERING AND APPLAUSE" "Chamberlain made three separate trips to Germany in order to discuss Hitler's claims on Czechoslovakia." "And the dominant thought in Chamberlain's mind was the memory of this - the First World War." "The bloodiest war in British history." "And the worst killing fields were here, in the valley of the River Somme." "On 1st July 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme, nearly 20,000 British soldiers lost their lives, more than on any other single day in the history of the British Army." ""Surely," thought Chamberlain, "no leader of a major European state" ""wanted something like this to happen again."" "But British leaders already had an idea of Hitler's true character, because Lord Halifax had met Hitler the year before, in November 1937, at Berchtesgaden." "During the meeting, Hitler had said the British could solve any problems they had in India by shooting the Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi." "And, if that didn't work, they should shoot a dozen members of his Congress party, and if there were still problems, shoot 200 more and so on until order was established." "Lord Halifax was not impressed." "He certainly didn't succumb to Hitler's charisma." "Nor did Chamberlain." "In September 1938, he travelled to Munich and Hitler's office on the Koenigsplatz." "for one final meeting." "Chamberlain didn't think Hitler was a gentleman." "In fact, he remarked that Hitler was the commonest little dog he'd ever seen, so undistinguished that you would never notice him in a crowd." "But Chamberlain did have sympathy with the view that the peace treaty at the end of the First World War had been too hard on Germany." "And he signed an agreement on 29th September that gave Hitler the Sudetenland, the German-speaking area of Czechoslovakia." "Just as they had been in Austria, soldiers of the German army were greeted with flowers when they entered the Sudetenland in October 1938." ""The joy of our redemption was very great and it was welcomed by all." ""People said, 'Thank God, times are changing for us now.'" "CHEERING" ""Everyone was delighted about it."" "But events that would take place here in Munich, just a few weeks later in November 1938, would demonstrate Hitler's true world view." "They would also give an insight into how his charismatic leadership worked." "Leading Nazis had gathered here to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Munich Beer Hall Putsch - a sacred date for the Nazi party." "On the evening of 9th November, they learnt that a German diplomat in Paris had been shot by a German-Polish Jew." "Joseph Goebbels, the propaganda minister, a vicious anti-Semite himself, suggested to Hitler that Nazi Stormtroopers be let loose against the Jews of Germany." "This was how Hitler's charismatic leadership could work - he had a vision, he hated the Jews and wanted to get rid of them, but others suggested the ways in which this could be implemented." "GLASS SHATTERING" "Hitler agreed with Goebbels' idea and so, Nazi Stormtroopers ran wild on the night of 9th November, attacking Jews and their property." "Around 25,000 Jews were imprisoned in concentration camps and more than 100 were murdered." "Shortly afterwards, the SS newspaper warned of terrible consequences if a Jew assassinated another leading German." ""There will be no more Jews in Germany." ""We hope we make ourselves clear!"" "They also threatened..." ""Because no power on Earth can stop us," ""we will bring the Jewish question to its total solution." ""The programme is clear - total expulsion, complete separation."" "Many Germans were certainly anti-Semitic at the time, but there was no evidence that the majority of ordinary people, like these holidaymakers, approved of murderous attacks on German Jews." "Nor that they had any desire to fight another European war." "But large numbers of them did certainly have faith in Hitler." "They called him General Bloodless - someone who had achieved great things for them and their country without the need to spill any blood." ""We had adopted an attitude" ""whereby one said that the Fuehrer would manage." ""The Fuehrer would do the right thing."" "Hitler knew that this attitude of trust, that he would "do the right thing", was based on these people's faith in his charismatic leadership." "So he faced the difficult task of trying to get ordinary Germans to accept military conflict, without them losing their faith in him." "We can get an idea of just how Hitler had been working at turning around public opinion from a secret speech he gave here in Munich to leading German journalists." "On 10th November 1938, Hitler said..." ""For decades, circumstances forced me to talk almost exclusively of peace."" "But now, he told the journalists, the news had to be presented so as to create the impression that..." ""There are matters which, if they cannot be achieved by peaceful means," ""must be enforced by means of violence."" "What was crucial was to say to the people..." "This was now important, said Hitler, in order to free the German people from the bondage of doubt." "CHEERING" "These were the scenes in Munich, in July 1939, for a celebration of German art." "By the time these pictures were taken," "Hitler had orchestrated the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia, and the British and French governments had warned Hitler that if the Germans moved on Poland, then there would be war." "The German press saw things very differently and with one voice had been telling the people that Germany was being treated unjustly." "That their Fuehrer's legitimate demands were simply not being met." "Secretly, Hitler had already told his military leaders to be ready for war." "And just a month after his trip to the Munich Art Festival," "Hitler announced to his generals that they should harden their hearts against the enemy." "One general who wasn't part of Hitler's plans was Ludwig Beck." "He'd resigned as Chief Of Staff of the German army, believing now, as he said to a friend, that Hitler was "a psychopath through and through"." "He was more certain than ever that Hitler was leading Germany to catastrophe." ""I warned and warned," he said, "and at last I stood alone."" "GUNSHOTS" "On 1st September 1939, the German army invaded Poland." "Two days later, Britain and France declared war on Germany." "The Polish army stood little chance." "Not only was this ideal country for the German tanks, but under a secret part of a non-aggression agreement with Stalin, signed just days before," "Germany and the Soviet Union split up Poland between them." "The Germans invaded Poland from the west." "Two weeks later, the Red Army invaded Poland from the east." "Less than six weeks after it began, the war was over." "Poland was crushed." "For the German officers and their men, it was a time for celebration." "For the Poles, it was the beginning of one of the most brutal occupations in history." "Poland would suffer proportionately more than any other country in this war - nearly six million Poles would die." "More than 16% of the population." "For Hitler and the Nazis, this was an ideological war from the very beginning." "Hitler told Joseph Goebbels that autumn that he thought the Poles were "more animals than human beings"" "and that "the filth of the Poles was unimaginable"." "Hitler's "judgment" on the Poles, said Goebbels, was "annihilatory"." "Two million Polish Jews came under Nazi control in the autumn of 1939." "Thousands were shot and the Nazis began to mark the rest, with Polish Jews made to wear special symbols on their clothes." "They would shortly be imprisoned in ghettos." "Later in the war, they would be sent to death camps." "The likelihood is that not one of these Polish Jews would have survived the war." "Back in Berlin, Hitler prepared to speak to the German Reichstag." "And, on 6th October, he gave a speech which exuded confidence about the way ahead." "CHEERING" "CHEERING AND APPLAUSE" "Senior German army offices knew that Hitler was not planning on peace." "Just days before he spoke to the Reichstag," "Hitler had told them to prepare immediate plans for an attack in Western Europe, which would mean invading France." "It's almost impossible to overestimate how reckless, almost crazy, the idea of attacking France seemed to many of Hitler's generals." "Not only did the British and French possess more tanks than the Germans, their tanks were better." "The consensus was that the Germans could not possibly succeed." "There was even talk in the autumn of 1939 of a mutiny." "General Halder, Chief Of Staff of the German army and General Brauchitsch, the head of the army, discussed trying to enforce a change in leadership." "THEY SPEAK GERMAN" "What they almost certainly had in mind was something that had happened little more than 20 years ago." "In the First World War, the head of state, the Kaiser, had been pushed into the background, whilst leading generals like Hindenburg took control." "This is what they wanted to see happen to Hitler." "General Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb also tried to rally support for a coup against Hitler." "He called the planned attack in the west simply mad." "And he also thought the atrocities that were being committed by the Nazis in Poland were unworthy of a civilised nation." "But von Leeb's was a rare voice of protest." "It was one of von Leeb's own officers," "Corps Commander General Geyr von Schweppenburg, who identified the problem the conspirators faced." "THEY SPEAK GERMAN" "He came to the view, after consulting his colleagues, that their soldiers would refuse to turn against Hitler because respect and faith in Hitler was entrenched too deeply in them." "Hitler's charismatic leadership, one built on the education of the young in Nazi ideology and on successes like Austria, the Sudetenland and now Poland, was simply too powerful for them to overcome." "Then, there was another aspect of Hitler's leadership which was to prove crucial - his absolute certainty that Germany would win this war against the French." "Despite all the objections of his generals," "HE remained sure of victory." "And this certainty, this complete confidence, began to have an effect." "'Der Fuehrer mit seinen Generaelen in Hauptquartier...'" "Once again, Hitler set a vision, this time, invade Western Europe, and others came up with ways of implementing it." "And they all knew that Hitler admired radical plans, was prepared to take fantastic risks to gamble on the chance of success." "And in early 1940, a new version of the invasion plan, this one proposed by General von Manstein, was certainly both radical and risky." "The idea was simple." "The main armoured thrust of the German invasion of France should go through this." "The forest of the Ardennes - one of the last natural wildernesses in Western Europe." "If the Germans could get through here undetected by the Allies and then dash for the Channel coast, then they stood a chance of a swift and dramatic victory." "If they were detected as they drove down the forest roads and attacked, then, almost certainly, Germany would lose the whole war." "It was to be one of the greatest gambles in military history." "All or nothing." "And Hitler loved the idea." "The plan was that Army Group B would invade Belgium and Holland and engage the Allies in battle, whilst Army Group A made its dash through the Ardennes and tried to reach the coast." "As a result, Allied armies would be trapped." "What was vital was that the Germans were able to cross the River Meuse in north east France before Allied reinforcements arrived." "If they could do it, and the risks were huge, then there was no other major natural obstacle in their way until the English Channel." "On the 10th May 1940, one section of the German army did what the Allies expected and invaded Belgium." "British and French forces moved forward to engage them." "It looked like this would all develop into a series of conventional battles." "Most probably, it would lead to stalemate." "Not unlike the First World War." "Waiting in the forest far south of them, undetected by the Allies, were 1,200 Panzers of Army Group A." "The Germans had concentrated their mechanised forces here." "Though they had fewer tanks than the Allies, they were gambling on the Allied tanks being north of them, in the wrong place to stop their advance." "But the roads were so narrow that one German general was worried that the advance could turn into an enormous traffic jam." "The whole essence of the attack was speed." "So much so that the drivers of the Panzers were issued with amphetamine tablets so that they wouldn't need to sleep for several days, tablets known as Panzer Chocolates." "Units of 7th Panzer were some of the first to reach the River Meuse, here, near the town of Dinant." "The commander of 7th Panzer was a 48-year-old, then relatively unknown general, called Erwin Rommel." "On 13th May, Rommel crossed the River Meuse at this weir." "A day later, more Panzers crossed the river further south." "For the Germans, all this was a triumph." ""It was hard to believe - we had broken through" ""and were advancing deep into enemy territory." ""It was not just a beautiful dream." ""It was reality."" "But in the midst of all this success, something strange was happening behind the scenes." "On 17th May, Hitler ordered Army Group A to stop its advance." "He was, thought General Halder," ""Terribly nervous and frightened by his own success."" "The generals couldn't understand how Hitler could be both the great gambler and yet be so fearful during the battle." "But Hitler was proving to be an unreliable battlefield commander because of how his leadership worked." "For Hitler believed..." ""Decision-making means not hesitating to do" ""what inner conviction commands you to do."" "Hitler had previously listened to this inner conviction in places like his bedroom or walking amongst the mountains of Southern Bavaria." "Now, constrained in endless military meetings about detail, rather than thinking of grand visions," "Hitler's inner conviction was proving to be an unreliable guide." "Here, in the battle for France, Hitler overcame his fears and, within a day, the advance was continuing." "But it was a sign of things to come - the clearest example yet of how Hitler as a military leader could be as much a liability as an asset." "Army Group A reached the Channel coast, here, where the River Somme meets the sea, on 20th May 1940." "Just ten days after the attack had been launched." "Refugees had tried to run from the Germans." "But the advance had been so swift that there was nowhere for them to run to." "The shock of what had just happened, almost impossible for us to conceive of today." "In this single campaign, the Germans took more than one and a half million prisoners." "The Germans lost about 30,000 dead." "The Allied death toll was three times that." "The defeat of the Allies was made all the worse because they'd been confident they could hold back the Germans." "Hitler had said before the campaign that reacting quickly to events was..." ""Not in the nature of either the systematic French" ""or the ponderous Englishmen."" "And events had proved that he was right." "Here, on the beaches of Dunkirk, the British had managed to fashion a kind of victory from defeat." "Around 340,000 soldiers had been rescued from here, and in the city itself, before the Germans took control." "But the heavy equipment had been left behind - almost 2,500 pieces of artillery and more than 60,000 vehicles were lost in this campaign." "As for Hitler, General Keitel now announced that he was the greatest military leader of all time." "The Germans and the French signed an armistice on 22nd June 1940." "The Germans had won in little more than six weeks and, in truth, the key battles of this campaign had been won in just four days." "Now it was time for German soldiers to enjoy themselves." "For these Germans, who were all well-aware of the stalemate of the trenches of the First World War, with the German Army stuck for years in trenches 100 miles north-east of Paris, this victory seemed all but miraculous." ""German soldiers were obviously unstoppable." ""And given the situation, we all, we all were, to be honest, enthusiastic." ""Even those who'd previously held a different attitude" ""towards the entire regime." ""All of a sudden, considering everything worked so well" ""and nobody had been able to stop us," ""we were suddenly all nationalists." ""Wherever German soldiers were, nobody else could get a foothold." ""It was really like that."" "And it all appeared to be part of a pattern, one created by Adolf Hitler." "Faith in charismatic leadership is fed by success." "And Hitler had gained success after success." "Austria, the Sudetenland, Poland, and now, the greatest of all, the humiliation of the old enemy - the French." "Hitler's victory parade in Berlin, on 6th July 1940, marked the high point in faith in his charismatic leadership." "Never again would he be so triumphant." "These people hadn't somehow been hypnotised into believing in Hitler." "They'd chosen to support him because they loved what he'd brought them - victory." "Shortly after this parade," "Hitler would announce to his military commanders that since Britain's position was hopeless, then Germany had won the war." "It was just a question of the British realising that they had lost." "It was a moment that captured both the strength and weakness of Hitler's charismatic rule." "Because, despite the faith these people had in him," "Hitler knew that he was not in control of events, as he pretended to be." "Back in the New Reich Chancellery, he could shut himself up to wait for guidance from his inner conviction, but he didn't seem able to make his enemy, the British, act as he thought they were supposed to, and just give up." "What he decided to do next would lead both to the shattering of the Germans' faith in his charisma and the death of millions of innocent people." "Hitler orders his army to advance into the Soviet Union." ""We were all inspired by the belief that we succeed in whatever we do." ""And that, for us, nothing is impossible."" "Hitler said that he wanted this to be a racist war of annihilation." "And, within weeks, the Germans said they'd won." "But they hadn't." "And so this becomes the story of what happens to a charismatic leader when the victories stop coming." ""I experienced examples of it " ""of men who came to tell him it could not go on any longer," ""and even said that to him." ""And then, he talked for an hour" ""and then, they went and said," "" 'I want to give it another try.' "" "The history of Hitler's charismatic leadership finally ends here, in a bunker in Berlin, with Hitler ever more deluded and living in fantasy." "Claiming he'd done the right thing all along." "Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd" "In the 1930s, Adolf Hitler made the most ambitious boasts imaginable about what lay ahead." "And just a few years later, it seemed to millions of Germans that Hitler had indeed created a future that belonged to them." "In 1941, when this film was taken," "Hitler was all but worshipped by his followers." "In pursuit of his racist vision," "Hitler had led the German army to a series of momentous victories." "His promises were taken as gospel." "My diary of the time has that line:" ""Come what may, the Fuhrer will sort it."" "I wrote that myself." "I also believed, "Gosh, he's achieved so much already!"" "That was the point - all the things he'd achieved!" "But as the war progressed, the successes stopped coming." "And then, the end." "We were abandoned." "We had to suffer our fate." "With insights from those who lived through these times - most of whom were interviewed by the BBC over the last 20 years - this film reveals how Hitler tried to retain his charismatic appeal, as the bond between the German people and Hitler" "was tested as never before." "Adolf Hitler loved this landscape." "It was here, amidst the mountains of southern Bavaria, that he said his ideas matured." "And on 31st July 1940, at his house, the Berghof, he announced his most ambitious idea yet to his military leaders." "Now that the Germans had conquered much of Western Europe," "Hitler was thinking in epic terms." "He wanted plans drawn up to invade the Soviet Union - a country which in his warped view of the world was led by Jewish/Bolshevik criminals." "But it was also a country he'd signed a non-aggression pact with, as well as a country twice as large as Europe." "The generals listened to Hitler's idea and many thought," ""Shouldn't be too difficult."" "People thought, and the military leaders were among them, that it would be relatively easy to eliminate the Russian army with one short, forceful blow." "Based on the information we had about the Russian army," "I also believed that it would not be much of a problem." "These soldiers knew that Hitler had been saying for years that the biggest danger Germany faced was the Soviet Union, and many thought their Fuhrer was right." "Fresh from their recent victory over France," "German soldiers were full of confidence in Hitler's judgment." "So much so, that he was called" ""the greatest military commander of all time"" "by one of his leading generals." "Hitler was more than an ordinary leader." "By now, he was considered by many to be almost superhuman." "And it wasn't just Hitler who was thought to be a superior being." "His connection with those Germans he considered racially pure was based, in part, on a shared sense of superiority." "Millions of ordinary Germans, especially the young, had been told that they were special, too." "We had been taught that only the Germans were valuable human beings." "There was a little booklet called," "German Inventors, German Poets, German Musicians." "Nothing else existed." "And we devoured it, and we were absolutely convinced that we were the greatest." "And since Hitler boasted that the Germans were a superior race, he believed that victory over those he considered racially inferior, like the people of the Soviet Union, would be relatively straightforward." "And so, on 22nd June 1941, the Germans launched the largest invasion in the history of the world." "Within just a week, the Germans had advanced more than 200 miles into Soviet territory and reached Minsk, capital of Belorussia." "This wasn't just the biggest invasion in history, it was turning out to be one of the quickest, as well." "You thought it was a doddle." "The Russians were all defecting in droves or were taken prisoner." "And we would have a splendid life and the war would be over in six months - a year at most." "There were soldiers who advanced singing." "It's hard to believe, but it's a fact." "And soon, German troops were celebrating." "Back in Berlin, on 3rd October 1941," "Hitler publicly gloried in the successes on the Eastern Front." "At the Sportpalast, he basked in the adulation of the crowd." "Faith in Hitler's charismatic leadership had been built on his ability to deliver success after success." "And here he was, so it seemed, successful, once again." "Hitler even went so far as to say explicitly that the Red Army had been defeated." "All this euphoria about the invasion of the Soviet Union highlighted a key aspect of Hitler's charismatic leadership." "His ability to allow those who worked for him to dream of wildly ambitious schemes." "To work, as their Fuhrer did, unhindered by moral restraint." "THEY SPEAK IN GERMAN" "German technocrats knew that Hitler had called for this to be a war of annihilation, and for months before the invasion, had been working out how many people in the Soviet Union should be starved to death." "These people were surplus to Nazi requirements." "And one calculation was that there were 30 million of them." "When the German army occupied the Soviet city of Kharkov, they deliberately tried to starve the population." "German soldiers, who'd been told to steal provisions from the locals, in order to feed themselves, sealed the city, and only gave food to the small number of people who worked for them." "The rest began to die of hunger." "In the final stages of starvation, your lips get somehow stretched, and it's what they call a hungry grin." "You don't know whether a person is grinning or crying." "But the teeth are bare." "Then, diarrhoea, the so-called hungry diarrhoea." "And then comes a bitter taste in the mouth." "This murderous policy was based on the belief that the Germans were superior." "But what if they weren't?" "The arrival of the Russian winter brought the first major military setback for the Germans since the end of the First World War." "When soldiers during the night had no opportunity to warm up somewhere, they got frozen toes and fingers." "We were totally under-equipped." "The soldiers were overwhelmed by fatigue and couldn't think straight." "Nearly numbed by fatigue." "Hitler and his generals had been so confident of swift victory that soldiers hadn't been provided with proper cold weather equipment." "And when the Red Army counter-attacked, it looked like the whole German offensive might collapse." "It was the greatest test yet for Hitler's leadership." "And he responded by telling his soldiers simply to hold their nerve and stand fast." "In the cold Soviet forests, they might die, but that was what soldiers were supposed to do when asked." "Do you think Frederick the Great's grenadiers were happy to die, either?" "In the same way, I consider myself entitled to ask every German soldier to lay down his life." "Hitler's lack of compassion, lack of pity, hadn't mattered to most of these German soldiers, as long as they were winning easy victories." "But now, Hitler's Darwinian beliefs meant that he could see his soldiers die without a care." "After all, hadn't he always said that the weak didn't deserve to live?" "Ever since he came to power," "Hitler had been portrayed as a man of strength." "A man who could not make a mistake." "Goebbels, the propaganda minister, had said that building this image had been one of his greatest achievements." "Via the creation of the Fuhrer myth," "Hitler has been given the halo of infallibility." "But now, Hitler was beginning to appear all too fallible." "He'd told the German people that the Red Army would never rise again." "But it just had." "To help solve this difficulty, Goebbels turned to history." "In March 1942, a film was released about a charismatic leader from Germany's past - the Prussian king, Frederick the Great." "And every German knew that Frederick had also suffered setbacks, but had triumphed in the end." "Frederick the Great was supposed to symbolise Hitler." "The German who watched it was supposed to think that here was a similar situation to the present, that the war could be as desperate as that, that there were still possibilities to turn it round, and that it could be brought to victory." "Since the start of the campaign against the Soviet Union," "Germany's new Frederick the Great, Adolf Hitler, had chosen to spend his time here, isolated in a forest in East Prussia." "This was his field headquarters, known as the Wolf's Lair." "Hitler said to one of his generals that it was important to keep one's distance from the suffering on the front line, so as not to feel pity." "But even though he and his staff were hundreds of miles away from the fighting, it still wasn't possible to hide from the stark realities of this war." "Just after the Soviets started their counter-offensive, in December 1941, Hitler had gained a new enemy - the Americans, with their vast industrial capacity." "It was around this time that Hitler held important discussions about increasing the Nazi persecution of the Jews." "How Hitler did this reveals a great deal about how his leadership worked." "Hitler hated formal government meetings." "Even though there was officially still a German cabinet," "Hitler had not allowed the cabinet to meet since 1938." "A charismatic leader like Hitler didn't want to take part in some sort of committee meeting, where he might have to listen to the views of others." "Instead, at the Wolf's Lair, Hitler met Heinrich Himmler, head of the SS, on 18th December, 1941." "And the killing of Jews was discussed." "Just between the two of them - unter vier Augen - under four eyes." "Several hundred thousand Jews had already been killed by the Nazis, mostly in the Soviet Union, but now, starting in 1942, the Nazis tried to round up the Jews of Europe and systematically murder them." "Hitler authorised the killings of the Holocaust, but many others sorted out the detail of how it was to happen." "And despite the scale of the crime," "Hitler never had to deal with any mass public protest in Germany about the deportation of the Jews." "Hitler was always sensitive to the mood of the general population, even during the war." "What happened here in Bavaria in 1941 shows just how responsive the Nazis could be to the feelings of ordinary Germans." "Bavaria was a largely Catholic area, and when a leading Bavarian Nazi decreed that schools should stop displaying crucifixes in the classroom, there was public outrage." "As a mother of eight, our Fuhrer awarded me with the Mother's Cross in gold." "It is incomprehensible to me that my youngest, whom last Monday I led to school for the first time, should not see a crucifix there, after his seven siblings have grown up in the shadow of the crucifix, hitherto." "I often contemplate and cannot solve the mystery how such a measure is possible at all, since our Fuhrer stands by his soldiers in the east and fights against Bolshevikism." "Despite the fact that Hitler loathed Christianity himself, the Nazis reversed the policy on crucifixes, because it was damaging German morale." "With the disappearance of the Russian winter, the Germans started to recover their optimism." "The Red Army counter-attack had ground to a halt and, by the summer of 1942, German units were advancing again, travelling across the steppes in the south of Russia." "In less than eight weeks, they advanced 500 miles." "We were better soldiers than the Russians." "We were better." "It filled us with pride to advance that far to the east, further and further." "We were all inspired by the belief that we succeed in whatever we do, and that for us, nothing is impossible." "In August 1942, the German Sixth Army reached the River Volga, 1,400 miles east of Berlin." "And then, suddenly, a broad silvery ribbon, the Volga." "We knew this was the goal, the ultimate goal of the war, maybe, to get to the Volga." "It was an exciting feeling." "But on the bank of the Volga lay a city still occupied by the Soviets, a city then called Stalingrad." "Hitler ordered the commander of the German Sixth Army," "Friedrich Paulus, to take Stalingrad at once." "And in a speech a few weeks later, Hitler said:" ""You can rest assured no human being can remove us from this place."" "But there was a growing disconnect between the promises" "Hitler was making, and the ability of his troops to achieve them." "The basis of his charismatic leadership had always been his certainty that his vision was attainable." "But now, with supply lines stretched almost to breaking point," "German generals questioned whether their troops had the resources to do what their Fuhrer wanted." "A meeting, here in Berlin in August 1942, at the aviation ministry, showed just how Hitler's unrealistic style of leadership influenced those Nazis closest to him." "This giant office block, one of the biggest in the world when it was opened, was built for Reich Marshall Hermann Goering." "A former fighter pilot," "Goering was not only head of the German airforce, he was also helping to run the German economy." "On the 6th August, Goering met Nazi officials from the occupied territories." "And Goering, attempting to manage them in the same way Hitler would, simply told them what he wanted." "I have here reports from you on how much you expect to deliver." "This is nothing in view of your territories." "Last year, France delivered 550,000 tons of grain, and now, I demand 1.2 million." "There will be no discussion about it." "They were unobtainable demands." "And Goering was constantly making them." "So much so, that some people who worked directly for him chose to kill themselves, when they couldn't deliver what was asked of them." "Luftwaffe General Ernst Udet shot himself in 1941." "As did Hans Jeschnonnek, chief of the Luftwaffe General staff, in 1943." "Jeschonnek left a suicide note, in which he said:" ""It is no longer possible to work with the Reich Marshall." ""Long live the Fuhrer."" "Also desperate, as autumn turned to winter in Stalingrad, were soldiers of the German Sixth Army." "They were finding that fulfilling Hitler's order to take the city was all but impossible." "This was street fighting, at close quarters, and the Germans were used to driving their tanks across the steppes." "You had to make your way to the front ducking, crouching, kneeling." "Shots rang out from all sides, from the front, from behind, from above, from below." "And all around you was the noise of the artillery salvos." "We were repeatedly told, another 100 metres, and you've done it, but how can it be done if you just don't have the strength?" "Each attack resulted in such a high number of losses, that it was easy to calculate how long it would be before there was no-one left." "In November 1942, Hitler learnt that the Red Army had launched a huge offensive near Stalingrad, and the German Sixth Army, fighting inside the city, was now cut off." "But he wouldn't let them make a fighting retreat." "He ordered them to stay where they were." "Hitler's stubbornness, his intransigence, his refusal to listen to the advice of others - qualities that had helped make him seem a strong leader before the war - were now revealed as weaknesses." "Weaknesses compounded during the Stalingrad crisis by Hitler's willingness to rely on the promises of Herman Goering." "Goering had boasted that the Luftwaffe could supply the Sixth Army from the air." "So all these soldiers had to do in Stalingrad, freezing, and surrounded by their enemy, was to rely on Hermann Goering to keep his word." "Back in Germany, the population was largely ignorant of what was happening in Stalingrad." "This was the film that Goebbels's propaganda ministry chose to release for Christmas 1942." "An emotional attempt to show how German women and children still believed in victory, and stood behind husbands and fathers at the front line, and, crucially, their Fuhrer." "But increasingly, it was a fantasy, and this was the reality." "On the 2nd of February 1943, the last German soldiers surrendered to the Red Army in Stalingrad." "Goering's Luftwaffe hadn't been able to provide the Sixth Army with adequate supplies and all attempts to rescue them had failed." "The Red Army took more than 90,000 prisoners." "The commander of the Sixth Army, Friedrich Paulus, also fell into Soviet hands." "He had been promoted by Hitler to the rank of Field Marshal just before the German surrender." "It was a hint that Hitler wanted Paulus to commit suicide." "German Field Marshals were not expected to be captured alive in battle." "Hitler was furious when he heard that Paulus hadn't killed himself." "At his headquarters, he raged against him." ""It hurts me so much, because the heroism of so many soldiers" ""is obliterated by one single spineless weakling." ""What does this mean, "life"?" "The individual has to die, anyway." ""What lives on is the people."" "Hitler also spoke of how he wanted those around him to behave, if the situation ever seemed hopeless." ""You stand together, form an all-round defence," ""and shoot yourself with the last bullet."" "It was another sign of the potential downside of having faith in Hitler." "He couldn't have made it clearer." "This war was all or nothing." "Life or death." "And death now seemed the more likely option as the boasts of victory on the Eastern Front rang ever more hollow." "Now, in the spring of 1943, with the war going as badly as this for the Germans, there were concerted attempts to get rid of Hitler." "Officers serving with Army Group Centre on the Eastern Front wrapped up a bomb, pretending it was two bottles of liqueur." "One of them then passed on the package to a passenger who was travelling with Hitler on his plane." "The conspirators wanted Hitler's death to be blamed on a plane crash." "That way, they wouldn't be criticised by other officers who remained loyal to Hitler." "But the bomb failed to go off, and Hitler's plane landed safely." "Though some army officers were prepared to try and blow Hitler up, no-one could be found in 1943 who had access to Hitler and could bring himself to shoot his Fuhrer face to face." "At least one conspirator said he was just not equal to the task." "The legacy of his personal charisma might well have saved Hitler's life that year." "In the aftermath of the defeat at Stalingrad," "Hitler wasn't keen to speak in public, and Josef Goebbels attempted to raise morale." "But Goebbels didn't just offer the German people this fanatical talk of "total war."" "He also gave them something else - escapism." "In March 1943, one of the most expensive German films of the period was released," "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen." "EXPLOSION" ""The entertainment film had a political purpose." ""That political purpose was to get the audience off the streets," ""away from their household cares and family worries."" "EXPLOSION" "Almost until the last day of his life," "Hitler would try to sell his own fantasy to those around him, that Germany could still somehow win this war." "And to do this, he relied in large part on his remaining charismatic powers." ""I experienced examples of it, of men who came to tell him" ""it could not go on any longer, and even said that to him." ""And then he talked for an hour and then they went and said," ""I want to give it another try."" ""Well, he had an enormously strong will, you know, and he had" ""powers of persuasion that could gloss over any rational arguments."" "This amateur footage of Hitler with General Manstein gives a rare opportunity to see Hitler interacting with his military commanders." ""At the end of every meeting," ""he would always personally turn to the Field Marshal in charge" ""and say, "But you're not going to abandon me."" ""And he took both his hands and shook them." ""He had an immense ability to manipulate and influence people."" "When Hitler said goodbye to Manstein, he looked him straight in the eye and held on to his hand for longer, much longer, than normal." "But Hitler's motivational tricks were falling increasingly flat." "On the 6th of June 1944 came D-Day, the Allied landings in Normandy." "'Fast rocket boats showered the enemy with their rain of death.'" "Two weeks later, the Red Army launched a massive offensive on the Eastern Front." "GUNFIRE" "All this demonstrated the sheer scale of the resources at the disposal of the Allies, resources the Germans could not hope to match." "'Our beachhead to Berlin was established.'" "It was against the background of these military catastrophes for the Germans that the most famous attempt on Hitler's life was made, here at the Wolf's Lair on the 20th of July, 1944." "Paradoxically, it would also show the lingering power of Hitler's charismatic authority." "Count Claus von Stauffenberg, appalled at the way Hitler was leading Germany, planted a bomb under the table at Hitler's midday conference." "Stauffenberg then hurried to the nearby military airfield and flew to Berlin, intending to help co-ordinate the coup there." "Ahead of Stauffenberg, a number of other plotters had arrived here, at these offices of the German Army, on the Bendlerstrasse in Berlin." "Amongst the conspirators in the building was the man who was supposed to be the new German Head of State, Ludwig Beck, former Chief of Staff of the Army." "He waited to see how many other officers would pledge their support for the coup." "But the question they asked was this - "Did Hitler still live?"" "And the answer was yes." "Hitler had survived the bomb attempt with only minor injuries." "The wooden walls of the conference room had blown out, dissipating the explosion." "That evening, Major Remer, commander of the Berlin Guard Battalion, was uncertain what to do, until he spoke to Adolf Hitler on the phone." "Hitler told him to suppress the coup at once." "Sofort, mein Fuhrer." "It was the sound of Hitler's voice that made Remer act." "Forces loyal to Hitler re-took the Army offices on the Bendlerstrasse." "Stauffenberg and three other plotters were taken out into this courtyard and immediately shot." "Over the next weeks, several thousand other suspects were arrested, and 200 killed." "In the early hours of the 21st of July, Hitler spoke on the radio, to tell the German people that he still lived." "But public reaction to the attempt on Hitler's life showed how deep the roots of his charismatic power still reached." "This response was typical." ""I was outraged," ""I was totally outraged that something like this could happen." ""It was a horrible experience for me."" ""There was widespread relief that the attack had failed" ""and Hitler gained a lot of sympathy because of it."" "But this feeling of gratitude that Hitler had survived the assassination attempt didn't mean that people had faith that the war could still be won." "Despite the image Goebbels' propaganda tried to project, of an idyllic world peopled by perfect Germans," "Nazi internal intelligence reports detected a growing disenchantment with the regime and real fear about what lay ahead." "And by the autumn of 1944, the Germans had a great deal to be fearful about." "ARTILLERY FIRE WHIZZES AND THUNDERS" "ARTILLERY FIRE RUMBLES" "The Red Army was advancing into Germany." "The countryside of East Prussia was the first German land to be occupied by the Soviets." "And in some of the towns and villages, the Red Army committed atrocities." "For Nazi propaganda, it was a gift, the reason to keep fighting was clearer than ever... to stop people Hitler called "animals from the steppes of Asia"" "from gaining control of Germany." "What the Nazi propaganda didn't say, of course, was that a strong motivation for this terrible Soviet revenge was the countless horrors the Germans had perpetrated in the Soviet Union." "Further inside Germany, faith in Hitler was being eroded." "Charismatic leadership relies on a connection between the leader and the led, a connection based on faith that the leader knows best." "That was now all but broken..." "..in large part because towns and cities were being bombed to destruction, and many blamed not just the Nazis in general, but Hitler, in particular." ""The Fuhrer has it easy." ""He doesn't have to look after a family." ""If the worst comes to the worst in the war," ""he'll leave us all in a mess and put a bullet through his head."" ""It's always claimed that the Fuhrer was sent to us from God." ""I don't doubt it." "The Fuhrer was sent to us from God," ""though not in order to save Germany, but to ruin it."" "In the face of such criticism," "Nazi terror increased against the general population and thousands of Germans were shot for defeatism." "The irony was not lost on these people that, just before the war began, one leading German had promised that no bombs would fall on Germany." "Hermann Goering, commander of the Luftwaffe and serial breaker of promises." "With much of Germany in ruins, in January 1945, Adolf Hitler spoke on the radio." "And he revealed the gap that had grown between him and the German people." "They knew the war was lost." "He didn't appear to." "Amidst this crisis, Joseph Goebbels thought he knew how to raise the morale of the German people." "He released Kolberg, a historical epic about the heroic resistance of a small Prussian town to the invasion of the French, 140 years before." "Goebbels was so keen on this film, that he ordered thousands of German soldiers to act in it as extras." ""Goebbels even said to me that it was more important" ""that the soldiers act in his film, rather than fight at the front," ""which was no longer worth doing," ""since we were in the middle of a total collapse."" "And the message Goebbels wanted the German people to take from the film could scarcely have been more obvious." "By January 1945, the Red Army had reached here, the River Oder, just 40 miles east of Berlin." "They now outnumbered the German defenders more than three to one." "Over the next weeks, the Soviets gathered their strength before crossing the Oder in April 1945, and launching 2.5 million soldiers against the German capital." "EXPLOSIONS AND HEAVY GUNFIRE" "In Berlin, Hitler was living in a bunker underneath the Reich Chancellery, which stood on this site on the Vossstrasse." "As his empire crumbled, he tried to control what was left of the German Army." "But he also spent his time dreaming of this..." "The city of Linz in Austria." "Hitler had gone to school here and his parents were buried in one of Linz's suburbs." "Hitler had huge plans for Linz and a large-scale model of the new, Hitler-approved Linz had been assembled in a cellar room of the Reich Chancellery in Berlin, early in 1945." "So that Hitler, as the Red Army closed in on him, could fantasise about what the new city would look like." "Hitler had planned to retire to Linz, and a giant Adolf Hitler museum was to be built here." "He also wanted the bodies of his parents to be dug up from their existing graves and re-interred in a specially-constructed bell tower in the centre of the city." "His ability to construct visions of the future had always been a central part of his charismatic appeal." "But by now, his visions had parted company completely with reality." "Close by worked another fantasist." "This was Joseph Goebbels' Propaganda Ministry." "And here, in April 1945, this was on his mind." "The power of film to alter history." "Goebbels tried to convince his staff to stay and make a last stand, because, he said, "In 100 years time," ""a film will be made about this epic period."" ""Gentlemen, don't you want to play a part in this film?" ""To be brought back to life in 100 years' time." ""I can assure you that it will be a fine and elevating picture." ""And for the sake of this prospect, it is worth standing fast." ""Hold out now, so that 100 years hence," ""the audience does not hoot and whistle" ""when you appear on the screen."" "Goebbels planned what he thought was a heroic ending for himself, his wife and six children." "They all came with him to Hitler's bunker where Goebbels had his children killed." "After these children had been murdered," "Goebbels and his wife committed suicide." "Hitler had killed himself the day before, on 30th April 1945 and his body was taken by other Nazis and burnt here, in what was then the garden of the Reich Chancellery." "Just over a week later, Germany surrendered." "In his last days, underground in this bunker," "Hitler had composed a final testament, one that revealed his views of the world had not altered." "He still blamed the Jews for everything, and possessed unshakeable confidence in himself." ""In these three decades, all my thoughts, my actions, and my life" ""have been guided solely" ""by the love and loyalty to my people."" "Even in his last hours, Hitler had not changed." "Almost all the elements that had enabled him to become a charismatic leader still existed within him, until his last breath." "What had changed was other people's perception of him." "This was Hitler's legacy, one of unparalleled destruction." "Seven million Germans dead." "Around 34 million dead in the countries that had fought Nazism, with six million Jews alone killed in the Holocaust." "Hitler had said that those he considered racially-pure Germans were better than anyone else, and many had believed him." "Hitler had not hypnotised these people into supporting him." "They had chosen to follow a leader they felt had charisma." "And this, in the end, was where their belief in Hitler had led them." "Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd"