The 30th June 1934: the date German freedoms and the rule of civilised law died at the hands of Adolf Hitler. In the hours that became known as the Night of the Long Knives he murdered his way to dictatorship. Night of the Long Knives
On the evening of 27th February 1933 an arsonist’s fire destroyed the Reichstag. Hitler had the missing piece needed to set the stage for his epic massacre. Whether the perpetrator was the Dutch communist arrested and beheaded for the crime, or a team of Herman Goering’s torch-men, had never been clear. ibid.
As the death-count grew they may also have been covering up Hitler’s sexual history. Although evidence of sexual indiscretions by the Fuhrer had been murderously suppressed, always they were whispers. That he had been a male prostitute in Vienna and Munich as a youth. That he had been listed as such in Viennese police records. That his foppish mannerisms went suspiciously with his surrounding himself with practising homosexual companions and co-workers. ibid.
I witnessed the festivities [Hitler’s 50th birthday 1939]. I heard the clamour. I saw the enraptured faces of the women. Through it all this moronic roar of ‘Heil!’ Hysterical females. Adolescents in a trance. An entire people in the spiritual state of whirling dervishes. These people are insane. Fritz Reck-Malleczewen, author
1933 marks the beginning of the darkest chapter in German history. Adolf Hitler and his National Socialist Party assume power in Germany. Chronicle of the Third Reich I II III IV, H2 2013
His hatred of Jews knows no limit. ibid.
The Germans subjugate half the European continent and systematically loot the defeated countries. ibid.
The Social Democrats do not attend the staged event; two days later they are the only party in the Reichstag to vote against Hitler’s enabling act which will systematically strip Germany of the last remnants of democracy. Stormtroopers and police hunt down Social Democrat and Communist functionaries: thousands are murdered or interned in so-called protective custody camps. ibid.
During the first year of his rule Hitler has paid little attention to foreign politics. ibid.
From now on Hitler is the Fuhrer and Chancellor of all Germans. ibid.
The Fuhrer is always close to the front ... Hitler is in his element. ibid.
A triumphant Hitler takes a tour around occupied Paris at Dawn. ibid.
Although Adolf Hitler had not been able to face the humiliation of a trial he was present in spirit at every moment of it. He was the man who had given the orders; every indictment was an indictment of him. Great Crimes and Trials s2e9: Hitler and the Nuremberg Trials, BBC 1994
They invaded peaceful nations. Slaughtered innocent people. Committed genocide. But how did Adolf Hitler and his small band of criminal conspirators persuade the German people to follow him? The Rise of the Nazi Party s1e1: The Misfits Gather, Discovery 2014
A young soldier called Adolf Hitler is in hospital; he has been blinded in a mustard gas attack and he is recovering from his wounds. ibid.
An aversion to smoking, drinking and women. ibid.
For a patriotic German soldier there is nothing … zero prospects. ibid.
He gave the party a new name and a new emblem. ibid.
By 1921 Hitler becomes leader of the Nazis. ibid.
In the winter of 1923 Adolf Hitler is at an all-time low. His audacious attempt to seize power in a coup has been an embarrassing failure, and he’s going to jail. The Rise of the Nazi Party s1e2: Becoming Respectable
To win the hearts and minds of the German nation ... In a series of speeches he lays out his case. ibid.
He portrays himself as a patriot trying to restore the nation’s honour. ibid.
Mein Kampf: the concepts within it are not his own. ibid.
The Aryan German people are the natural master race. And that Germany's biggest enemy are the Jews. ibid.
Hitler decrees that the Nazi Party will be relaunched. It will be reputable and democratic. ibid.
Goebbels’ diary entry 23rd November 1925: Great Joy. He greets me like an old friend. How I love him. ibid.
Behind the smart exterior Goebbels is a thug. ibid.
Adolf Hitler, the one-time jail bird, looks like a prophet and he says there is only one solution: put him in charge. The Rise of the Nazi Party s1e3: Seizing Power
The Jews: he blames the economic crisis on them. ibid.
Their very best propaganda tool is the rally. ibid.
In private Hitler has fallen in love; the object of his affection is the 23-year-old daughter of his half-sister. ibid.
Hitler is appointed Chancellor of Germany. ibid.
This is the story of how Hitler and the Nazis bend an entire people to his will and groom them into participating in the most evil regime in history. The Rise of the Nazi Party s1e4: In Power, Discovery History 2015
Rather than tackle unemployment, Hitler targets the Jews. ibid.
Unemployment goes down to virtually nothing. ibid.
Hitler has won the people’s hearts and minds and he has groomed them to his way of thinking. ibid.
Adolf Hitler has risen to power pretending to be a man of peace. He tells his people he can make Germany great again without war. The Rise of the Nazi Party s1e5: Preparing for War, Discovery History 2014
Then Chamberlain offers a new extraordinary compromise – Hitler can have the Sudetenland provided he promises this will be the last of his territorial ambitions. ibid.
Soon afterwards, German forces storm into Belgium and Holland. By mid-summer 1940 Hitler is in Paris at the head of a victorious army. bid.
Adolf Hitler is at the height of his power. He had conquered Europe. For millions of Germans he is the greatest military and strategic genius of all time. Yet the German people are about to discover that what they have been told is a tissue of lies. The Rise of the Nazi Party s1e6: Hitler’s Biggest Blunder
The Hess crisis passes, but for the first time the image of Hitler’s leadership is exposed as seriously out of line with the reality. ibid.
There will be no more easy victories. ibid.
His biggest blunder ... The most powerful country in the world. Germany is about to be hit by a serious of ferocious hammer blows ... Hitler has declared war on America. ibid.
Stalingrad: Around a quarter of a million German troops are cut off from their supply lines. ibid.
Over the skies of Germany, Allied aircraft bomb the country’s cities day and night. ibid.
Hitler is a shadow of his former self. ibid.
Of all their evil actions nothing defines the Nazis like the Final Solution – the murder of some six million Jews. The Rise of the Nazi Party s1e7: The Final Solution
The film – The Eternal Jew – produced by Goebbel’s Propaganda Unit, has a stark message: wherever Jews settle they behave like rats and parasites. ibid.
With this complicity of silence no German needs to speak openly about the Final Solution. No-one needs to take responsibility. ibid.
Hitler’s control over Germany is built on a simple illusion – people believe the Fuhrer is an all-wise genius leading them in a noble enterprise. But now the reality is breaking through. The Rise of the Nazi Party s1e8: Nazis Outfought
Stauffenberg’s treasonous views are shared by fellow officer Colonel Henning von Tresckow. ibid.
People are still losing faith in the Fuhrer. ibid.
The last throw of his dice has failed. ibid.
January 1945: End game for Nazi Germany as the Allies advance on all sides ... What now for Adolf Hitler and the band of criminal conspirators around him? The Rise of the Nazi Party s1e9: End Game
An aged grey wreck of a man increasingly dependent on a sinister quack. ibid.
Goebbels is creating an alternative reality. ibid.
1945: Germany is defeated. Now the awful reality of what Adolf Hitler and his cronies have been up to is revealed. The Rise of the Nazi Party s1e10: Aftermath