Original subtitles

When did you start to get interested in Germany, and in particular in Hitler?

The papers were full of Germany and of what was happening.

This was in 1933.

And when I met somebody who said,

"Oh, well, if you'll come over there, I'll introduce you to him,"

I was extremely interested.

Why were you interested?

I think everyone was interested.

To meet him? Oh, they were.

He dominated politics on the Continent.

I thought that I should meet him in the way that you do,

to say "How do you do?", really.

A friendship was struck up, which of course is a very different thing

from just meeting somebody and talking to them for half an hour.

But what... How did he strike you? What was he like?

I mean, why did you like him?

He was a fascinating man.

You see, people don't get from being an out-of-work painter

to being a dictator of a very big, powerful, evolved country

like Germany unless they've got some very special thing within them.

And obviously he had it.

Everyone wants to know what Hitler's like.

Today, we know Hitler as the man guilty

of the worst crimes known to humanity.

But it didn't start off that way.

There was a time when people worshipped him.

Now, with powerful dictators thriving once again,

we're looking at Hitler through different eyes...

..through his friends, his admirers, his contemporaries.

Some are Nazis.

Few can be trusted.

But when we see him as they did,

perhaps we can grasp who Adolf Hitler was

and what made him possible.

Of the people who met Hitler in person...

..few are still alive.

My name is Edgar Feuchtwanger.

I was born in Munich and I'm 98.

I was Hitler's neighbour.

His house and his apartment was within sight of my window.

His flat was on the second floor and so was ours.

The closest encounter was in 1933.

As we turned the corner, he came out.

And he was just in a raincoat and a trilby hat.

He doesn't look impressive, you know.

And he had no swastika armband or anything like that.

But you couldn't mistake him for anybody else

because of that little moustache.

And as he saw us stopping, he waved to us like that -

"Thank you." HE LAUGHS

And he had just become Chancellor.

Just days before Edgar's encounter,

Adolf Hitler had become leader of the German government.

Now, he's at work dismantling the democracy that swept him to power,

filling key posts with his own people

and clamping down on press freedoms.

ON TAPE: February 1933, Berlin,

and Sefton Delmer, you were there?

Yes. Well, now, I was the Daily Express man in Berlin at that time,

the chief of the Daily Express Bureau.

Sefton Delmer is a member of Hitler's press entourage,

following him on campaign trails

and capturing key moments on his home movie camera.

I knew the Nazis.

I knew all the top chaps in the Nazi party.

I'd made it my business to get to know them.

One night, Sefton gets a tip-off.

There was a telephone call.

This chap told me that the Reichstag was on fire.

So I immediately dashed out of my office.

I was there within half an hour of the thing having been discovered,

and the first fire brigades were already arriving.

Three black Mercedes cars drew up,

and I said, "I bet that's Hitler."

And sure enough, it was Hitler.

He said, "Evening, Delmer."

And I said, "Good evening, "Herr Reichskanzler."

And as we went upstairs,

who should appear but Herr von Papen, the Vice Chancellor?

Hitler rushed over, and he said,

"This is a God-given signal, Mr Vice Chancellor.

"If, as I believe, this is the work of the communists,

"we must crush out that murder pest with an iron fist."

"An iron fist."

Sefton Delmer witnesses how quick Hitler is

to pin the fire on his enemies, despite the lack of evidence.

ARCHIVE: Hitler, now Chancellor,

has announced that the fire was the work of communists

and was intended to be the signal for a Bolshevist uprising

throughout the country.

Hitler rushes through emergency terror laws...

..slings communists and left-wing politicians in jail...

..and rams a decree through parliament

handing him dictatorial powers.

A few days later,

he holds this press conference to justify his assault on democracy.

Rumours start to circulate about the harsh treatment

of Hitler's political enemies in his new concentration camps.

Hitler encourages members of the press

to take a look for themselves.

These pictures, smuggled out of Germany at the time,

show the violence meted out to prisoners.

Many will go on to die in custody.

FANFARE PLAYS

With his opponents out of the way, Hitler's Nazi takeover is complete.

But he still fears rivals within his own party.

Often by Hitler's side is friend and trusted driver Erich Kempka.

There's no-one closer to Hitler than Ernst Rohm,

a friend and ally since the earliest days of the Nazis

and now his second-in-command.

But when Hitler begins to see Rohm as a threat,

his days are numbered.

Hitler knows that Rohm is gay.

He's discovered Rohm's away, relaxing with his stormtroopers.

He hopes to catch him off-guard to inflict maximum humiliation.

TRANSLATION: And Hitler was screaming like a madman,

"You pigs! You should be shot!"

After personally taking Rohm into custody,

Hitler orders for him to be executed.

At the same time,

he authorises the murder of 100 other rivals and critics.

The 30th of June '34 was a very, very important day,

because it became obvious that this government,

as a government, started to become a murder.

They shot a great number of people without any bringing them to court.

They just killed them -

and not only direct enemies of Hitler,

but also other people who they felt were unpleasant.

Hello, hello. This is the German broadcasting company in Berlin...

Hitler justifies the wave of terror

by positioning himself as Germany's saviour.

The German Reichstag will be addressed by the Fuhrer,

Adolf Hitler.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

INTERVIEWER: Very little was done by anybody against the government

after this. Now, why do you think that was?

Well, I think it's difficult, first of all,

to make up your mind that you should do something against a government.

In a dictatorship, it's even more complicated

because everybody likes his own life.

Furthermore...

..I think a person who has never lived in a dictatorship

can't understand the power of propaganda.

If you just hear always the same,

if you always read in every newspaper the same,

and if you have very few possibilities

for other information...

..then you become very impressed by the things which you are told.

And it's very difficult to make up your own mind and be critical.

Heil Hitler. Heil Hitler.

All radio programmes emanate from the Department of Propaganda.

Every newspaper prints only what the state wants its people to read,

and any letter in the German mails is subject to censorship.

The government used their propaganda machinery completely,

very, very good indeed.

There's one last powerful group Hitler must bring to heel.

Hitler makes sure every soldier in Germany is loyal to him.

INTERVIEWER: How seriously did you and your colleagues take this oath?

Very serious. I mean, the oath is,

no doubt that I can't break the oath.

Otherwise I might commit suicide.

Adolf...Hitler!

Hitler!

Adolf Hitler!

INTERVIEWER: Could one feel such an emotion as love for Hitler?

Hmm? Could one feel such an emotion as love for Hitler?

Who? A person like yourself?

I not, but I can think so,

because you know that several women...fall in love for Hitler

very strong, yes?

Not you? Not... Not possible, no. Never.

Hitler is the unassailable leader of Germany.

To demonstrate his power and the devotion of his people,

he plans a vast rally at Nuremberg.

Hitler transforms the parade ground into a shrine...

..and summons film director Leni Riefenstahl to glorify him.

I was coming to Hitler.

It was lunchtime. Many people are there.

And he was very kind and friendly.

And after this, we are going in a little room to coffee.

I told Hitler, "Look, I can't do this.

"I don't know what is important, what is not important."

He said, "That is what I want.

"You are an artist and I don't want that the party make a film,

"a stupid film.

"It is only possible that you make the film as an artist."

With an unlimited budget and a crew running into the hundreds,

Riefenstahl creates an epic spectacle.

A delighted Hitler unveils her film to the nation.

FANFARE PLAYS

Riefenstahl's film rams home Hitler's Nazi vision for Germany -

the master race, united and powerful...

..worshipping at his altar.

Wouldn't you say that The Triumph of the Will

is a propaganda film?

If I would see this film today,

after we know everything, what happened, I would say yes.

In this time, '34, no.

In Germany, if you remember,

90% of the people are enthusiastic in this time.

It was a time...

Before Hitler was coming,

we have had seven million people without work,

and so Hitler makes us better and better.

You can see that all the people, they are very enthusiastic.

It was like a welle, yeah? A wave.

The people who are there,

they are thinking, "We will have peace", the whole time, yes?

We are not thinking about what can happen later.

That was really our mistake.

Hitler is bringing into being the Germany he's always longed for,

ever since childhood.

Hitler was born in Austria.

He grew up in this house,

speaking German and steeped in German traditions.

Here he is, aged 11.

Little is known of Hitler's school years,

but we've discovered rare recordings with one of his classmates,

Josef Keplinger.

Keplinger recalls that one teacher in particular inspires Hitler -

his history professor, Dr Leopold Potsch.

Potsch argues that all German speakers should be united

in one empire, as they were in the past.

And Hitler learns from him that Germanic people

are the strongest and fittest to rule.

Nationalism will become Hitler's obsession,

driving his plans for Germany.

Hitler wants to build an empire.

In 1935, he begins the rapid expansion of the Armed Forces.

Secretly, he plans to invade his neighbours.

But on the public stage, he deploys a trademark technique -

the barefaced lie.

ARCHIVE: Significant meeting - British Legion representatives

are received by Hitler.

We British never felt anything but great respect for...

Hitler is playing peacekeeper, making friends with former enemies.

He makes sure he's caught on camera for the British newsreels.

Next, he invites to tea the British Prime Minister

who led the fight against Germany in the Great War, David Lloyd George.

Once, they hated him.

Now, Lloyd George is a welcome guest in Germany.

And his promenade through the picturesque Bavarian village

of Berchtesgaden is preliminary to an interview with Hitler

in the Fuhrer's mountain retreat.

Accompanying Lloyd George on this trip

is his private secretary, Albert Sylvester.

Hitler ran down the flight of stairs

to welcome LG as he got out of his car,

shook hands with him most warmly

and conducted us into the inside of the Berghof.

I asked whether Hitler would permit me to take photographs,

and he asked... He asked the Fuhrer,

and Hitler nodded to me that I could.

He took us round and round this massive room,

the only light of which came from a massive window,

which was terrific. I've never seen such a window.

Then we were taken by him to tea.

Tea was already laid on,

on low tables, round which we all sat.

There were 13 of us, and we were served by special officers,

obviously belonging to Hitler's guard.

The highlight of the tea party

was when Hitler suddenly produced a photograph

of himself, which he had signed, and he presented it to Lloyd George.

It was in a beautiful frame.

Lloyd George was very touched indeed.

He rose from his seat,

he grasped Hitler by the hand and thanked him profusely.

Lloyd George said, "You have done great things for Germany.

"You have restored her honour,

"and you have gained for her equal rights in the world."

Lloyd George went away shouting, "Heil Hitler!"

Went back enchanted.

Hitler could be awfully kind...

..and he could turn around the people.

And I personally was absolutely in his charm.

Reinhard Spitzy is private secretary to Hitler's Foreign Minister,

Joachim von Ribbentrop.

The first time I have seen Hitler, it was in the Obersalzberg.

Went to this big room where there was this moving window.

And there, Hitler and Ribbentrop were walking up, down, up, down,

one hour, two hours and three hours.

And I pinched myself. I kicked myself.

I thought, "It can't be true that I'm now landing here."

Hitler probably, he liked me from the very beginning,

because he was Austrian, too, and because I was tall,

and I was the so-called Nordic type.

I brought him always good news,

and I started to be accepted at the round table of Adolf.

In March 1938, Hitler makes his move.

Today comes a mighty moment, as Hitler's bombs' bursting finally

carries Nazi expansion across the borders of Germany

into the land of his birth.

As officials pull down the frontier barriers,

political significance of these pictures is still too fresh

in the minds of the world to need discussion.

ALL CHANT: Heil Hitler!

As his troops march into Austria unopposed,

Hitler crosses the border with them.

I asked Hitler if I could go to Austria with him,

because his ADCs told me before,

"No, there's no place for you."

And then, Hitler said, "Yes.

"Spitzy comes with us."

The reception was so overwhelming.

People with tears in their eyes.

I myself cried and wept.

Women came with their children and they're babies,

and they threw flowers and flowers,

and many bands of music.

You saw them playing, but you didn't hear them.

He was overwhelmed by emotion himself.

He made the speech, and I was standing very near to him.

And I never saw again in my life

the Heldenplatz with so many people -

there must have been there nearly something to a million.

IN GERMAN:

CHEERING FIREWORKS BURST

But Spitzy only tells one side of the story.

Many Austrians don't want to join Germany.

Austrian Jews and other minorities

are intimidated and publicly humiliated.

After a wave of arrests, a referendum is held.

Hitler declares 99% of Austrians are on-side.

I liked Hitler, I adored him in this moment,

because he did make no war.

That was the success of all my wishes in my life,

the reunification of Greater Germany as it was before.

Because after all, we have been together a thousand years.

For German nationalists, Hitler may be a hero...

..but the rest of Europe looks on in alarm.

When Hitler declares his intention to invade Czechoslovakia,

British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain flies to Germany

to persuade him to back down.

European peace is what I am aiming at.

And I hope that this journey may open the way to get it.

CHEERING

The visit does not go well.

I think the best way to characterise that meeting was to use a tune

sung in England during those days.

"Stormy Weather."

The only witness to the three-hour conversation

is interpreter Paul Schmidt.

For the first time, Hitler proclaimed his ultimate ends

in his policy,

which was the complete subjugation of Czechoslovakia.

He said, "I'll do it one way or another,"

which meant, "Either you agree with me,

"or I'll do something forcibly."

To which Chamberlain became furious and said,

"Well, if you want to proceed against Czechoslovakia anyway,

"why did you let me come to Berchtesgaden at all?

"I think I had better go home

"and talk to my colleagues about it all."

CHEERING

CHEERING CHANTING

When I was a little boy...

..I used to repeat...

.."If at first you don't succeed,

"try, try, try again."

That's what I'm doing.

Back in Germany, Chamberlain tries to broker a last-minute peace deal.

His private secretary, Alec Douglas-Home, is there.

Hitler gave nothing away. He sat there without smiling.

In fact, at that time, he was pretty aggressive.

I think he felt he had the upper hand.

And Chamberlain disliked him intensely.

He was the kind of character,

arrogant character that Chamberlain naturally disliked,

being a reserved man himself, and a kindly man himself.

He hated this kind of demonstrative character who obviously thought

in terms of power.

Eventually, an agreement is reached.

Hitler can have part of Czechoslovakia,

so long as this is his last territorial demand.

Hitler had to sign it.

He couldn't say, "No, no, I don't sign it."

And when we came outside,

then Rentrop started to complain that that was an English trick.

So then, Hitler said,

"But this declaration has nothing to say at all!"

At first, Hitler complies with the agreement.

He takes only part of Czechoslovakia.

But a few months later, Hitler annexes the whole country...

..something to celebrate.

They all assembled in Hitler's large, large room.

And that was a sort of private party,

a sort of victory party.

So, he was sitting, first of all, like this.

Everything here open.

Hair's like this.

Drinking his mineral water.

And then, the interesting thing, talking like this the whole time,

he dictated to two secretaries at the same time.

And I was a youngster of 24,

so that's how a genius looks at home, you know?

Another nation has been swallowed up.

Hitler's great strength was,

he seemed to have an instinctive understanding of

the weaknesses of the French and British governments.

He had patience, he had cunning, he had coolness.

I think that Hitler, at his best -

or worst, however you prefer to look at -

was one of the great men of history

in his thoroughly evil way.

IN GERMAN:

As Hitler takes over Europe,

he's training the children of Germany to rule it

for generations to come.

His friend Baldur von Schirach leads his indoctrination programme.

BAND PLAYS CHEERING

Heil Fuhrer!

CHEERING AND CHANTING

The Jesuits always say,

"Give me a child for seven years,

"and we've got him for life."

Did you feel that, really?

You really had that effect on your youth? I...

You were as powerful with your youth as the Jesuits, weren't you?

Yes.

A clear and clean "yes".

I loved the kids, and the kids loved me.

I thought that, in bringing them up in this

large socialistic organisation,

yes, I would create a new Germany of the future

without any difference in classes.

In 1938, Alfons Heck attends one of Hitler's vast rallies.

The decisive turning point in my life occurred at the age of ten.

I was one of 82,000 members of the Hitler Youth.

Suddenly, the Fuhrer appeared.

I stood in the first row.

And when Hitler began to speak,

I was afraid to look at my neighbour,

because I didn't want him to see the tears in my eyes.

My knees were shaking.

And Hitler beamed down on us.

He calmed us down by lifting his hands, both hands,

several times.

And he said how fortunate we were to live in this new age.

"You are all one, belonging to me."

He leaned over the podium,

and I know he looked straight into my eyes.

And he said...

.."You will inherit what we have so far created.

"One day, you are going to rule the world."

And there's one group Hitler teaches all Germans to rule over.

As a young man, I was...

..er, anti-Semitic.

And that was, at that time, the feeling of almost the majority

of the German younger generation.

Although a tiny minority,

Hitler believes Jews pose a mortal threat to Germany.

Forbidden from working in one profession after another,

they are now barred from German citizenship.

I think everything that came to us

when we were living in Germany came very gradually.

That was part, perhaps, of the way Hitler managed these things.

It came on us rather drip by drip,

rather like an anaesthetic, one could almost say.

And it was only when a specific thing that he did

hit you personally,

that you actually realised that,

erm, what was going on.

The first time was when a Jewish doctor,

who was looking after our children,

suddenly told me that he could not come again,

because he'd been warned not to lay his hands on Aryan children.

And I remember thinking, "What? This is crackers."

And I remember telephoning him, then going round to his house,

he'd left for Holland,

and I heard that he'd committed suicide.

And I think that was the moment that came to me that this was

a really something very, very terrible was afoot.

CHANTING IN GERMAN CAR HORNS BEEPING

Edgar Feuchtwanger is from a well-known Jewish family.

In November 1938,

when Hitler authorises a violent attack on Jews,

his father is targeted.

When this happened, I think my father guessed that

something would happen to him.

And, of course, then they came to our house

and arrested my father.

They had their particular language for everything.

They didn't call it an arrest,

They called it "protective custody."

Schutzhaft.

And when they took all his books,

they called it "making secure" - in German, Gleichschaltung.

He knew there was a concentration camp at Dachau, we knew that.

And we knew he'd been taken there.

SHOUTING IN GERMAN

It became obvious that we had to leave Germany as a family.

I was sent ahead across the Dutch border,

and I was picked up in London.

It was obvious that that had to happen, we...

We couldn't live in Germany any longer.

Yeah.

By 1939, under the total control

of its dictator, this is now Hitler's Germany.

And it's for Hitler's people.

The teachers told us, "Don't worry about what you see."

"Even if you see some nasty things which you may not understand,

"always think Hitler wants to create a better Germany,

"a clean Germany.

"And don't worry, everything will work out fine in the end."