Adolf Hitler caused the deaths of fifty million people. An entire nation followed him to ruin. Over a tumultuous 12 years Adolf Hitler went from being a minor rabble-rousing politician, to supreme leader of Nazi Germany. He was hated by those he persecuted, and even by some of his own commanders - yet in twenty-five years no one managed to kill him. This program shows how Hitler's bodyguards helped him cheat death on many occasions. They expanded from a handful of thugs recruited to protect political meetings and fight opponents on the streets, to many thousands - including some of the most fearsome secret police and paramilitary forces the world has ever known.
Episodes
Season 1
How Hitler's Bodyguard WorkedHitler's personal protection squad grew from a few fiercely loyal, handpicked ruffians into an army with a complicated structure and intense internal competition.46m2
Early Attempts on Hitler's LifeBeer hall brawls, street fighting, and several brushes with death marked Hitler's rise to power in the stormy politics of interbellum Germany.46m3
Kill the new ChancellorDuring Hitler's first year in office--as he steered Germany abruptly towards tyranny--he faced no fewer than a dozen attempts on his life.46m4
Night of the Long KnivesIn one bloody, well-planned purge, Hitler eliminated his political rivals and ended the looming threat from Ernst Röhm's well-armed Sturmabteilung.46m5
Jewish and Emigre Attempts to Kill HitlerAs the Nazis amped up their anti-Semitic and expansionist activities, Jewish groups, Soviet Communists, and Otto Strasser's rival Black Front all targeted Hitler.46m6
Kill Hitler Before War StartsBy 1938, people inside and outside Germany--including some of Hitler's senior military personnel--planned preemptive strikes against the Führer.46m7
Bombs and ParanoiaConvinced that a failed bomb plot had roots in England, a Gestapo counterintelligence officer engineered an elaborate sting to snatch British agents.46m8
Dangerous Car JourneysHitler liked to tour cheering crowds in a customized, open-top Grosser Mercedes and later a G4-a predilection that gave his bodyguards nightmares.46m9
Flights into DangerHitler appreciated the power of aircraft, not only as a military weapon, but as a political tool. During the early 1930s, he hired aircraft for election campaigning, often facing weather and mechanical problems, as well as specific assassination attempts.46m10
Hitler's Dangerous Train JourneysBritish operatives targeted Hitler's special train, the Führer-Sonderzug--a rolling fortress on rails--despite its heavy armor and tight security measures.46m11
Attempts to Kill Hitler at Wolf's LairHeavily camouflaged and fortified, Hitler's military headquarters in Poland saw several assassination attempts--including one that came closest to succeeding.46m12
Nearly Assassinated at the BerghofHitler's Alpine retreat in Bavaria offered opportunities for a pistol-packing German officer, a sniper, a long-range bombing raid, and even an aerial assault by the Allies.46m13
Poison Gas Plot in the BunkerOne member of Hitler's inner circle later claimed to have contemplated flooding the Fuhrer's Berlin bunker with nerve gas as the Allies closed in.46m
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