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Hitler's Bodyguard
How history’s most evil tyrant survived 25 years of terror.
How did Adolf Hitler manage to survive more than 40 assassination attempts—some by his own generals? Using captured SS documents and eyewitness interviews, this documentary series reveals the secrets of the elite bodyguards who swore loyalty oaths to the Führer himself. It explains how Hitler cultivated rivalries among his security services to ensure his safety, and how his purposefully unpredictable behavior saved his life several times.
Carefully assembled archival footage offers rare glimpses inside Hitler’s infamous strongholds—the Berghof, the Wolf’s Lair, and the Berlin bunker. Computer-generated graphics detail the security measures used in his trains, planes, and touring cars. And meticulous re-enactments bring lost incidents to life. In 13 riveting episodes, this Military Channel favorite brings fresh, fascinating context to the 20th century’s most evil and destructive tyrant.
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Disc 1
Episode 1: How Hitler’s Bodyguard Worked
Hitler’s personal protection squad grew from a few fiercely loyal, handpicked ruffians into an army with a complicated structure and intense internal competition.
Episode 2: Early Attempts on Hitler’s Life
Beer hall brawls, street fighting, and several brushes with death marked Hitler’s rise to power in the stormy politics of interbellum Germany.
Episode 3: Kill the New Chancellor!
During Hitler’s first year in office—as he steered Germany abruptly towards tyranny—he faced no fewer than a dozen attempts on his life.
Episode 4: Night of the Long Knives
In one bloody, well-planned purge, Hitler eliminated his political rivals and ended the looming threat from Ernst Röhm’s well-armed Sturmabteilung.
Disc 2
Episode 5: Jewish and Émigré Attempts to Kill Hitler
As the Nazis amped up their anti-Semitic and expansionist activities, Jewish groups, Soviet Communists, and Otto Strasser’s rival Black Front all targeted Hitler.
Episode 6: Kill Hitler Before War Starts
By 1938, people inside and outside Germany—including some of Hitler’s senior military personnel—planned preemptive strikes against the Führer.
Episode 7: Bombs and Paranoia
Convinced that a failed bomb plot had roots in England, a Gestapo counterintelligence officer engineered an elaborate sting to snatch British agents.
Disc 3
Episode 8: Dangerous Car Journeys
Hitler liked to tour cheering crowds in a customized, open-top Mercedes Grosser and later a G4—a predilection that gave his bodyguards nightmares.
Episode 9: Flights into Danger
One of the first politicians to use campaign flights, Hitler eventually exposed himself to assassination attempts while touring his conquered lands by air.
Episode 10: Hitler’s Dangerous Train Journeys
British operatives targeted Hitler’s special train, the Führer-Sonderzug—a rolling fortress on rails—despite its heavy armor and tight security measures.
Disc 4
Episode 11: Attempts to Kill Hitler at the Wolf’s Lair
Heavily camouflaged and fortified, Hitler’s military headquarters in Poland saw several assassination attempts—including the one that came closest to succeeding.
Episode 12: Nearly Assassinated at the Berghof
Hitler’s Alpine retreat in Bavaria offered opportunities for a pistol-packing German officer, a sniper, a long-range bombing raid, and even an aerial assault by the Allies.
Episode 13: Poison Gas Plot in the Bunker
One member of Hitler’s inner circle later claimed to have contemplated flooding the Führer’s Berlin bunker with nerve gas as the Allies closed in. |
- 20-page viewer’s guide with highlights, questions to consider, avenues for further learning, Who’s Who among Hitler’s Bodyguard, and a guide to Hitler’s security units
- Killing Hitler in the Movies filmography
- Photo galleries
| Packaging: Boxed set
Run Time: 611 minutes
Format: Full screen
Number of discs: 4
Language: English
Subtitles: N/A
Color or B&W: Color and Black & White
CC: No
SDH: Yes
Region Code: 1
Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Rating: N/A | | Since 1990, the British team of Philip Nugus and Jonathan Martin has created popular, critically acclaimed historical documentaries, including Churchill’s Bodyguard and The Century of Warfare. |
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