Auschwitz: Inside the Nazi State
An in-depth visual and verbal account of one of the most notorious episodes of World War 2. Using location shots and combining CGI, for a 3-D realism, this is a documentary, through a timeline, showing its conception, ideals, horrors and liberation of the Death Camp that is Auschwitz and its role in "The Final Solution". Using reconstructions of key events by actors playing major Nazi hierarchical roles and real interviews from parties of all sides; ex-prisoners, old Schutzstaffel (SS) members and witnesses. Using archive footage conjoined with reflective, contemporary imagery it is a vivid and thorough historical telling of the atrocities of a political ideology that gave nothing but fear and death.
- 2005-2005
- 1 season
- PBS
- Documentary, Action & Adventure
An in-depth visual and verbal account of one of the most notorious episodes of World War 2. Using location shots and combining CGI, for a 3-D realism, this is a documentary, through a timeline, showing its conception, ideals, horrors and liberation of the Death Camp that is Auschwitz and its role in "The Final Solution". Using reconstructions of key events by actors playing major Nazi hierarchical roles and real interviews from parties of all sides; ex-prisoners, old Schutzstaffel (SS) members and witnesses. Using archive footage conjoined with reflective, contemporary imagery it is a vivid and thorough historical telling of the atrocities of a political ideology that gave nothing but fear and death.
Season 1 Episode Guide
6 Episodes 2005
Episode 1
Surprising Beginnings
Wed, Jan 19, 2005 48 mins
Examines the radical increase in violence against all opponents of the Nazi state. In particular, it explores the German army's invasion of the Soviet Union during the summer of 1941 and connects this campaign to the first gassing experiments in Auschwitz, Poland, which were aimed at Russian prisoners of war, not Jews.
Episode 2
Orders and Initiatives
Wed, Jan 19, 2005 49 mins
Laurence Rees continues his documentary history, marking the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, with an account of how the Nazis developed their ""Final Solution"". By 1942, Rudolf Höss had established the camp as a place to murder thousands of Jews, Slavs, and Roma Gypsies.
Episode 3
Factories of Death
Wed, Jan 26, 2005 49 mins
The Nazis' marshalling of Jews from across Europe - including the Channel Islands- gained momentum in 1942. Unable to cope with the huge influx, Auschwitz and Treblinka were modified with bigger gas chambers and crematoria. But inspirational stories of courage and compassion could still be found among this appalling catalogue of inhumanity, including that of German officer Albert Battel, who risked his life to save detainees.
Episode 4
Corruption
48 mins
By 1943, corruption is running rampant at Auschwitz-Birkenau. The camp also gains another source of income - clothes and valuables taken from Jews arriving to be gassed.
Episode 5
Frenzied Killing
48 mins
More people are killed in 1944 than ever before at Auschwitz. The Nazis try to sow seeds of confusion amongst the Allies in the East and Western Allies must make decisions about negotiating with the Nazis about the Jews and bombing the camp.
Episode 6
Liberation & Revenge
48 mins
In 1945, Red Army soldiers liberate the camp at Auschwitz-Birkenuau. As other liberations occur in the following months, the world is appalled. Surviving Jews face horrors as they try to return to their lives, and few SS-men are found and put on trial.