Rise of the Nazis is a three-part historical documentary TV series about how the Nazis seized absolute power in the Germany of the early 1930s. The documentary series mixes wordless dramatised sequences with the usual expert interviews to present an engaging, informative and insightful look back at the critical years before Adolf Hitler and the Nazis caused the deaths of millions of lives during World War II.
The logline for Rise of the Nazis is compelling – “In 1930 Germany was a liberal democracy. Just four years later democracy was dead, Germany’s leader is a dictator and its government is in the hands of murderers.” Thus, the historical documentary series focuses on just four years viz. 1930 – 1934 that changed the world forever.
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The series does an excellent in setting out the various key scenes at critical historical points and also the key figures who were crucial in establishing and cementing the Nazi Party’s power and authority over Germany. Besides Hitler of course, these central characters included his deputy Hermann Göring and SS leader Heinrich Himmler.
Both Göring and Himmler were ambitious, ruthless, methodical, calculative and murderous and provided Hitler with the crucial support to build up the Nazi Party into an unstoppable force in Germany. Himmler in particular would be instrumental in launching the concentration camps early on in the 1930s, which would have devastating effect during the War years.
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Also noteworthy were those who stood in opposition to the Nazis early on but were unable to prevent their rise to power at the cost of their lives. While these enemies of the Nazis recognised them for the danger they posed, sadly they were outmanoeuvred and were ultimately eliminated.
In addition, we also have provocateurs who were duped into believing they could manipulate the Nazis for their own ends but failing to realise that the opposite was true and ironically inadvertently facilitating the Nazis’ ascent.
AGENTS OF CHAOS – LESSON LEARNED
Rise of the Nazis might concern events take took place about 90s years ago but the lessons learned are still relevant to this day. Chillingly, we can see Republican politicians and even the outgoing President of the United States attempting to follow the Nazi playbook in a bid to destroy American democracy. The bloody legacy of the Nazis compels us to be vigilant.
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