User Reviews

Continuing in my quest to review absolutely every episode in the stellar ww2 documentary series World at War, we arrive at Inside the Reich. This one in particular ranks among my favorite in the entire series, as it offers valuable insight into something that many people want to know more about: what was life like in Nazi Germany. The episode covers essentially the entire war, but starts in 1940. By this point, poland, france, and other countries in europe the germans wanted to subdue have already fallen. Interviews with people living in germany at the time say that as of that moment, they really believed that the war was over. Everyone still remembered the carnage of world war 1 20 years earlier, and they were happy that they had ended this one quickly and with a minimal loss of german life. Going into 1941, the german populace gets its first experience of strategic bombing; attempts by the british RAF to cripple germany's ability to wage war by flying at night and attacking industrial facilities. Many civilians are killed as the luftwaffe is forced to fight over its own skies. The germans retaliate by bombing london for weeks on end, but the german military eventually turns its attention to the conquest of russia. At first it goes well, and badly led russian armies are easily pushed aside, but once the nazi advance grinds to halt outside moscow, people back home know something is wrong. During Stalingrad, things get even worse when an entire german army is cut off, surrounded, and overwhelmed by a huge number of russian forces. By now, Hitler and germany knew that this was the turning point. This was the catastrophe that could not be hidden. As the soviets push the german forces all the way back to their homeland, the german population is starting to feel the effects of war more intensely. America steps up its strategic bombing campaign, with huge amounts of planes laying waste to cities all over the fatherland. They bomb Berlin around the clock. Many high ranking officers in the german military itself are starting to question whether or not Hitler is the savior of germany he once proclaimed himself as, and just want the war to end already. They realize however that in order to stop the war, they had to install a new government, which in turn required the physical murder of Hitler. In summer 1944, a man crazy (or determined) enough to take action appeared: Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg. He had previously been in north africa fighting the british and was badly wounded there, losing one of his eyes, 3 fingers on one of his hands, and his other hand altogether. Because of his injuries, he probably wouldn't be suspected as an assassin. On july 20th, Hitler held a meeting in the Wolf's Lair, which was his private military command post located in a forest in east prussia. Stauffenberg brought a suitcase to the meeting and placed it at the foot of the table the meeting was held at. Shortly after, a prearranged phone call told him that he had to leave the meeting right away. Right after this, there was a huge explosion. 5 officers near Hitler were killed, but Adolf was covered by a conference table, and managed to escape with only minor injuries. Meanwhile, Stauffenberg and his conspirators, believing Hitler was dead, tried to overthrow the nazi government. By midnight, the plot had collapsed after news reached Berlin saying the Fuhrer was indeed alive. Stauffenberg was shot, and the remaining people involved were placed on trial, where they were predictably found guilty. After they were hanged, a film of their executions was made so Hitler could watch them. Even so, this whole affair had left him a decrepit and shambling person. With Hitler losing popularity among his commanders, the end of ww2 was now in sight. By early 1945, things were getting dire not just for the german military, but the civilians as well. Food, oil, metal, and everything else important was running out fast. With the soviets and americans on the fringes of the reich's borders, everyone could tell which way the wind was blowing. The Volksturm was sworn in; a large group of civilian fighters (some as young as 14) who were supposed to defend germany to the bitter end. Hitler demanded that everyone, the sick, the old, and the frail, die for him. If he dies, germany had to die too. The Volksturm marched out through the same Brandenburg Gate that the german army had come back through victorious 4 years earlier. World at war is typically an incredible show, but this episode is one of the best. It's full of important things, such as riveting interviews and footage of what the inside of germany looked like during the war. Some of the people interviewed are Albert Speer, Hitler's armaments minister who was given the job after his predecessor died in a plane crash. Under his direction, german weapons procurement multiplied 4 times. There's also a particular moment which shows Goebbels calling on the civilian population to fight on until everything in germany comes crumbling down, as that is a preferable alternative to surrendering. We also learn how Hitler became more and more paranoid as the war went on, especially after Stauffenberg had tried to assassinate him. All of a sudden, every one of his generals was a suspect. Speer comments about how Martin Bormann, Hitler's secretary, was arguably more powerful than the man himself because he directly controlled the flow of information to Hitler and decided who he could and couldn't meet with. Only Speer had direct access to Hitler since his job was very important for the war effort. Overall, Inside the Reich is one of World at War's most important installments, because it shows how far reaching war is in its destruction, even in regards to those not in the military.