Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2587 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-05-24
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Black & White, Colour, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 300 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Combining unseen archive footage and a wealth of interview material with "ordinary" people who witnessed or even participated in Hitler's reign, this eight part 1997 documentary brought fresh light to bear on the rise and fall of The Third Reich. Inevitably, the episode dealing with the Holocaust immobilises the viewer in its harrowing detail and a further blow against that rump of humanity who refuse to believe the genocide ever occurred. Yet of great interest also is the depiction of the nature of Hitler's dictatorship. He was, it seems, not a driven, workaholic ideologue but a lazy man who, having set his ideas in motion was content to let his subordinates do all the administrative work, fighting for his favour. The series also featured interviews with unrepentant Nazis. There's a telling moment in which an interviewer confronts an elderly woman with a letter of complaint to the Nazi authorities about a supposedly "subversive" neighbour, bearing her signature. The letter sent the hapless neighbour to her death. At first the woman denies knowledge of the incident, then, when faced with the evidence, glibly wonders why anyone should still bother about events that occurred so long ago. This series shows us exactly why. --David Stubbs

Amazon.co.uk Review
Arguably one of the most important documentary series ever made, 1997's The Nazis: A Warning from History sets out to show that, far from being a uniquely German aberration, Nazism fed upon and was fostered by the prejudices and lemming-like inclinations of ordinary people. Although culminating with the atrocities of the Holocaust, these programmes are equally good on the motives of otherwise perfectly normal people, who needed only the tacit encouragement of the regime to perpetrate horrors against their enemies, their neighbours, or their own family. When confronted with evidence of their Nazi past, elderly former party members are often unable to find any other justification for their actions than simply that they could get away with it. Far from being a monolithic dictatorship which compelled the citizenry to act in rigidly prescribed ways, the Nazi state just allowed people to give their worst inclinations free reign.

Hitler, it turns out, was a profoundly lazy man who rarely got out of bed before midday, and preferred to leave affairs of state to sort themselves out. He subscribed fervently to the doctrine of survival of the fittest as applied to all social and political matters, and actively encouraged in-fighting among his subordinates. The result was an organisational vacuum at the centre of state, which super-ambitious acolytes were only too eager to fill, often acting on nothing more than the Fuhrer's off-the-cuff remarks. One small example is revealing: after reading a letter from the father of a disabled child, Hitler agreed that it would be best for the boy to die. From this single statement arose a nationwide policy of euthanasia for all disabled children, carried out willingly and without compulsion by the doctors and "carers" themselves. It needed nothing more than the Fuhrer's nod. The message is clear and shocking: it happened in Germany, it could happen anywhere.

On the DVD: The Nazis: A Warning from History has six episodes spread across two discs. Picture and sound are standard TV quality; notable is the evocative use of Brahms's German Requiem as the series' theme. Other than subtitles, there are no extra features. -Mark Walker

DVD Description
The Nazis: A Warning From History exposes the popular myths surrounding the rise and fall of the Third Reich. The series explores how the Nazis came to power, how they ruled, how they treated their occupied territories and above all, how a cultured nation could be responsible for such acts of inhumanity.

Through compelling interviews and archive film and records, the series paints an astonishing and often unpalatable picture of Nazi rule. Contemporaries recall the true extent of Hitler’s power, eye-witnesses describe the horrors perpetrated on the Eastern Front, specially shot film in Lithuania reveals the development of the ‘Final Solution’ and ordinary Germans shed new light on the relationship between the Party and the people.

Customer Reviews

Superb and poignant
This is one of the finest television documentaries I have ever seen. It probes behind the usual cliches and half-truths about the Nazis and presents a picture of the party that is altogether more disturbing. The documentary concludes that once in power the operation of some of their darker policies was facilitated by the assistance of lower party officials and ordinary Germans. This expounds the myth that all Germans were manipulated into compliance from the top down. Neither are the sentiments that fuelled Nazi policies restricted to Germany, as in one of the most disturbing parts of the documentary a Lithuanian man who volunteered without coercion to join a shooting squad and execute his Jewish neighbours is interviewed. This series is given weight by the latest scholarship and authenticity and emotive power by a multitude of interviews. The music and narration is also of the finest quality. The documentary will leave you better informed, but also asking some uneasy questions. It is divided into the following six chapters, each approximately 48 minutes in duration:

Helped Into Power - this chapter examines how the political and economic turmoil of the Weimar Republic assisted the Nazis into a position of power. The economic depression of the early 1930s and opposition to communism from senior German politicians are shown to be important contributory factors.

Chaos and Consent – shows that behind the public façade of a rigidly ordered Nazi party, the lackadaisical approach to administration of Adolf Hitler created a cloud of confusion in which ambitious Nazis could exert considerable power in the formulation of specific policies.

The Wrong War – the immediate events preceding the outbreak of WW2 are presented and the question why Hitler ended up at war with the power he most admired – Great Britain - and allied to the country he most hated – Soviet Russia – is answered.

The Wild East – reveals how the occupied territories of Eastern Europe were governed once they were conquered. The chapter focuses on the brutal Nazi administration of Poland, in which forced migration, slave labour and execution were commonplace.

The Road To Treblinka – charts the rise of anti-Jewish sentiment and policies which led to the Holocaust and the creation of mass slaughter camps such as the one at Treblinka. The daily operation of the Treblinka camp is revealed and accounts from living survivors are presented.

Fighting To The End – asks why, despite a growing awareness of the repression and atrocities of the Nazi regime and a realisation of impending military defeat, the German people were not able to rid themselves of Adolf Hitler and were left fighting to the end. Even in the midst of set backs Hitler was able to inspire a fatalistic loyalty in his people and army that prolonged the Second World War. In addition, fear of the advancing Soviet army and the reprisals they would exact on the German people kept the nation fighting until the finale of the Battle of Berlin.

A very important record to keep in mind
This series, now shown 3 years ago still sticks in my mind as one of the profound documentaries I have ever seen. The 'Warning from History' is the story of a highly civilised democracy that turned into a violent military state. The warning lies in the fact that these events are not as much in history as we may like to tell ourselves for two main reasons. Firstly, it's not that long ago - many of the unrepentant interviewees who supported the fascist regime are alive and well and happy to discuss their feelings of the time. Secondly, they are ordinary members of society who were caught up in series of events that best served them as individuals and threatened them if they resisted. As ordinary selfish individuals, they responded and went along with the mainstream, ignoring the realities they did not like in the interests of their own survival. By mixing personal, sociological and historical vews, the history comes frighteningly into the present. We all live in a society on this knife edge. If we too were brutalised and threatened, we could and would turn on eachother to ensure our own survival. This video should be bought, remembered and shown to the next generation

Hauntingly Brilliant
The Nazi's - A Warning From History is one which i only saw in its entirety this year on UK History. I found it an engrossing and fascinating series. From the outset the brilliant music featured in the credits create in the viewers mind a programme that is going to convey a story that is perhaps unsurpassed in its horror and of historys' main role as being teacher for us in the present and future.

The programme itself keeps the right balance on information, making very effective use of documents and eye witness testimony, explaining very effectively how the Nazi's came to power, and although we now view it as an evil regime, one witness at the time said it was 'paradise'. It weaves a story together that appears seamless and interlinked, tying events that occured in chance meeting between Hitler with a Nazi official or his recieving a letter asking for permission to get rid of a disabled child, and how these in turn led to the various events and policy of Nazi Germany.

Its a rare and powerful documentary that is still as watchable 7 years on. Thoroughly recommended to those with even a passing interest in history and perhaps as a reminder to those who believe that as a species humans are advanced as we really think. This will make you think again.