A New Germany: 1933-1939
- Episode aired Sep 14, 1973
- 52m
The rebirth of Germany and growth in power of the Nazi Party leading up to the outbreak of war.The rebirth of Germany and growth in power of the Nazi Party leading up to the outbreak of war.The rebirth of Germany and growth in power of the Nazi Party leading up to the outbreak of war.
Photos
- Self - Law Student
- (as Konrad Morgen)
- Self
- (archive footage)
- (as Lord Halifax)
- Self - Hitler's Mistress
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
- Self - Neville's Father
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
- Self - P.M. of the U.K. 1937-40
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
- Self - Prime Minister of France 1938-40
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
- Self - Propaganda Minister
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
- Self - C-in-C, Luftwaffe
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
- Self - Deputy Führer
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- GoofsNarrator says, "...Germany 1936... they build the first motorway in the world..." The first motorway in the world was build 12 years earlier in Italy (the Milano/Laghi) and opened on 21 September 1924.
- Quotes
[first lines]
Narrator: Down this road on a summer day in 1944, the soldiers came. Nobody lives here now. They stayed only a few hours. When they had gone, the community, which had lived for a thousand years, was dead. This is Oradour-sur-Glane, in France. The day the soldiers came, the people were gathered together. The men were taken to garages and barns, the women and children were led down this road, and they were driven into this church. Here, they heard the firing as their men were shot. Then they were killed too. A few weeks later, many of those who had done the killing were themselves dead, in battle. They never rebuilt Oradour. Its ruins are a memorial. Its martyrdom stands for thousands upon thousands of other martyrdoms in Poland, in Russia, in Burma, China, in a World at War...
The aerial footage and information provided about Oradour-sur-Glane is a very effective means of hooking the viewer, before the narrative shifts back to the main purpose of the episode: the origins of the Nazi war machine.
'A New Germany' provides context to the development of the the Third Reich as a world power and the God-like status of Hitler in Germany at the time.
For me the most fascinating aspects are the first hand accounts. There are some important moments covered such as the economic hardships at the time discussed in Konrad Morgan's interview, the Night of the Long Knives alluded to by Ewald von Kleist, the hysteria of the 1936 Harvest Festival at Bückeberg described so vividly by Werner Pusch, and the Kristallnacht referenced by Emmi Bonhoeffer.
German advances into other territories are well worked into the narrative, culminating in the most impactful instance regarding the fate of the Polish town of Danzig and Nazi-Soviet pact.
These voices from history are both poignant and quite chilling given the scary times we live in today. War has returned to Europe and right-wing rhetoric has a platform once more in numerous democracies around the world, including my own.
Lawrence Olivier's narration is excellent, particularly the introductory monologue and the archived footage is excellent.
- snoozejonc
- May 6, 2022
Details
- Runtime52 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1