TV season
1998-10-17
Infamous for their crimes against humanity, the unexpected rise and fall of The Third Reich left much to be questioned. This season explores the deception and sabotage that pulsed through the veins of WWII tactics.
Episode 1
1998-10-17 • 60 min
From his “grand deception” against Stalin to his spy operations in America, Adolf Hitler shared many secrets with his intelligence masters. An examination of Hitler and the eventual betrayal of his chief spymaster.
Episode 2
They were weapons systems that were far beyond anything the Allies had or could have imagined in World War II. Deployed properly, they could have changed the outcome of the war. From the world’s first ballistic missile and operational jet plane, to air-to-ground missiles and guided smart bombs, they were secret weapons of the Third Reich.
Episode 3
Behind the Nazi war machine was a well-crafted secret propaganda campaign aimed at Germans and foreigners. From newsreels and newspapers to well choreographed spectacles, Nazi propaganda laid the foundation early on for war and retribution in Europe.
Episode 4
It was a tremendous booty, prized by Hitler as much as territory. The priceless art, personal assets and national treasuries of an entire continent. The organized plunder of these riches would become the most enormous heist in history, amounting to a vast hoard lost in the fog of war. The trails of the spoils of war and Nazi gold.
Episode 5
In the critical battle for North Africa, German General Irwin Rommel, the Desert Fox, seemed unstoppable – a warrior with a mystical feel for the battle. But how did he really get his intelligence? The British countered with secrets of their own; phony spies, phantom armies, and battlefield “magic.” Declassified information shines new light on spy vs. spy operations in North Africa.
Episode 6
An examination of one of the burning questions of WWII: How did the Nazi’s hide their atrocities and what did the Allies know as the “final solution” was implemented across Europe? Secret documents, messages and cables shed new light on one of the greatest tragedies of the 20th century.
Episode 7
In World War Two one of Germany’s best-kept secrets was the code machine “Enigma.” But this covert weapon would also become one of the greatest tools the Allies used against the Third Reich. British code breakers were behind the greatest campaign of deception in military history, changing the outcome of the Second World War.
Episode 8
The struggle for the Atlantic pitted Germany’s lethal U-boat fleet against every weapon the Allies could muster to protect their vital supply routes to Great Britain. The story of naval intelligence, code-breaking and code stealing in the Battle of the Atlantic...
Episode 9
Hitler’s lightning strike in Poland soon gave way to a strange eight month waiting game. Blitzkrieg became “Sitzkrieg,” a declared but not yet fought battle – allowing spies, diplomats, agents of influence, intelligence officers, opportunists, charlatans and statesmen to make their moves... From the rape of Poland to the fall of France, the secrets of Sitzkrieg.
Episode 10
Secret Nazi attempts to turn the tide of war as Berlin crumbled. Joseph Goebbel’s diaries provide a fresh understanding of life inside Hitler’s bunker in the final days of the Reich.
