Over the years we’ve seen many dramatizations and documentaries which shed light on Nazi Germany’s ferocious bid to conquer the world and the atrocities of the Nazi Party during their reign. Its rare we get a glimpse of Germany, not as a world power that sent millions of people to their death’s in concentration camps and public executions, but from the beginning to better understand how it all came about. History Channel offers up a glimpse into the rise and fall of Nazi Germany through the words and film of those who were there; American Tourists, Jewish Journalists, German Officials, Nazi Soldiers, propaganda video’s and pamphlets from both the Nazi Party and the Allied Forces who littered the streets with warning that they were coming and defeat was inevitable. See it and understand it from an inside perspective with History Channels The Third Reich.

The Third Reich begins with fair warning. This documentary does contain footage not suitable for everyone. No matter how many times we see the goings on of Nazi Germany in school, films, documentaries and books the images found within are impossible to desensitize, more so for some then others. Documented filming of public executions, images of malnutrition and neglect decaying the faces of the era’s victims, and of course the horrifying images of findings by Allied Troops at concentration camps found scattered across Germany and elsewhere are present. Some content in dialogue is subject as well.

The first disc, The Rise, begins with Germany. A forced democracy, the Communist Party and Nationalist Party trying to recruit members, both hoping to change Germany for the better. Times are hard in Germany and inflation has caused the people to become desperate. This is important. This is the seed in which the willingness of the German people, for someone, anyone, to rise to occasion and return Germany to a relative stability plays a key part in what's to come. Enter Adolph Hitler. History Channel does a fantastic job of putting the emphasis on Germany itself. Pointing out all the elements that lead to a man like Adolph Hitler coming to power, the events that came about such as The Great Depression and its impact on Germany that further threw its people into a frenzy for a savior. The documentary doesn’t ever feel rushed as if it would be easier to cover familiar ground to fill in the run time but takes its time to allow the viewer to see all that transpired, to help them better understand the mindset of the German people who accepted their savior and opened the door to violence and oppression. The way in which the German people knew of the brutality but how quickly, due to the consequence of accepting this return to surface normality and stability, they could say nothing, do nothing for fear of being persecuted just as quickly. Through the words of German’s who hid their diaries when speaking out on Hitler there is some perspective and a removal of bias towards Nazi Germany as it slowly but inevitably became the monster it was.

Disc Two, The fall, of course covers the defeat of Nazi Germany by an impending vise made up of Russian Troops and the Allied Forces closing in on Germany from both sides. In this History does its narration of history by not documenting, as is always the case, the triumph of the Allied Forces but the brutality and unsympathetic vengefulness of the Russian Armies that bounded into Germany to overthrow Hitler. By doing so we see the cruel irony of German citizens forced to flee their homes and gathering what belongings they could carry for fear of death. When the Allied Forces do get mentioned we see the inevitable aftermath of Hitler’s Nazi Germany in the form of the countries concentration camps and the lucky survivors who happily ate bread and thanked the troops for liberating them. Finally consequences. After the bombardment of Germany by Allied Forces and ethnic German’s sent home what was left for Germany’s citizens? How, among the ruins of their country, were they able to settle in, reform themselves? It’s all here in History Channels The Third Reich. An absolute masterpiece from beginning to end. I highly suggest.