The Third Reich was one of the bloodiest regimes in history, but are the atrocities committed during World War II being lost to modern memory? Through the framing of the Nuremberg trials and eyewitness testimony of American journalist William L. Shirer, this six-part documentary series from filmmaker Joe Berlinger explores the shocking rise and fall of Hitler and his enablers who were fueled through propaganda, censorship and a campaign of antisemitism.
Over the course of six hour-long episodes, HITLER AND THE NAZIS: EVIL ON TRIAL tells the definitive history of the Third Reich: its ideological birth after German surrender in WWI, the fanatical and catastrophic leadership of Adolf Hitler, the ultimate destruction of the Reich at the hands of Allied forces, and the era’s heady aftermath. With a narrative structured around the Nuremberg trials – including innovative narration from William L. Shirer, an American journalist who provided some of the era’s most vital coverage – this gripping, prescient documentary series from filmmaker Joe Berlinger (Paradise Lost, The Ted Bundy Tapes, Metallica: Some Kind of Monster) and SMUGGLER Entertainment uses carefully selected archival material, including rare, recently released audio and footage of the Nuremberg trials, and elevated recreations to give viewers fresh perspective on significant events, as well a clearer understanding of the cultural, economic, political and social environment that allowed those responsible for such horrors to rise to power. By applying a cinematic and utterly modern lens to the greatest global conflagration of the 20th century, this ambitious project lays bare the deep connections between the hatred and bigotry of a bygone era – and the rising tide of authoritarianism, populism, racism and antisemitism today.