Nazi Mega Weapons

Male Narrator

THEY WERE THE MOST SINISTER FORCE IN NAZI GERMANY...

Man

ALONG WITH THE SWASTIKA, THE SS RUNES WERE SYNONYMOUS WITH EVIL ALL AROUND THE GLOBE.

Narrator

A NOTORIOUS CULT BUILT TO OPPRESS A STATE...

Man

THERE'S NEVER BEEN A STRUCTURE, A HUGE ORGANIZATION ON THAT LEVEL, WHICH JUST INFILTRATES EVERY ASPECT OF LIFE.

Narrator

TO CONSTRUCT HITLER'S EMPIRE...

Man

IT'S A VILLAIN'S HIDEOUT EXTRAORDINAIRE.

Narrator

AND DOMINATE THE THIRD REICH.

Man

THE SCALE OF ITS AMBITION, THE EXTENT OF ITS REACH, THE VASTNESS OF ITS CRIMES ARE UNPRECEDENTED IN HISTORY.

Narrator

THIS IS THE STORY OF HITLER'S MOST RUTHLESS AND BRUTAL WEAPON--THE SS. THE BIGGEST CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS OF WORLD WAR II, ORDERED BY HITLER TO SECURE WORLD DOMINATION, NOW THEY SURVIVE AS DARK REMINDERS OF THE FUHRER'S FANATICAL MILITARY AMBITIONS. THESE ARE THE SECRETS OF THE NAZI MEGA WEAPONS. SUMMER 1940. NAZI ARMIES ARE SWEEPING WEST ACROSS FRANCE AND DRIVING THE ALLIES OUT OF EUROPE. AT ITS HEART IS AN ELITE FORCE TRAINED IN TERROR-- THE SS. COMBAT UNITS OF SS SOLDIERS LEAD THE ASSAULT ON GERMANY'S ENEMIES. INSIDE THE THIRD REICH, IT RUNS THE DREADED CONCENTRATION CAMPS AND CONTROLS ALL OF NAZI GERMANY'S POLICE AND INTERNAL SECURITY. LED BY HEINRICH HIMMLER, THE SS INFILTRATES EVERY CORNER OF THE GERMAN STATE, EVEN CONSTRUCTING THE NAZIS' MOST SECRETIVE INSTALLATIONS.

SPEAKS GERMAN

Narrator

THE REMAINS OF SS ENGINEERING LITTER THE EUROPEAN LANDSCAPE, EVEN TODAY. BATTLEFIELD ARCHAEOLOGIST DR. TONY POLLARD IS DEEP IN THE FORESTS OF WESTERN POLAND EXPLORING ONE OF THE LARGEST STRUCTURES EVER BUILT BY THE SS AND KNOWN AS PROJECT GIANT.

Pollard

THIS LOOKS LIKE AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE. IT'S ALMOST LIKE A LOST CITY IN THE JUNGLE, BUT IT'S NOT. IT'S ALL CONCRETE AND STEEL, AND THE FOUNDATIONS GO REALLY DEEP-- THERE ARE CHAMBERS AND ROOMS UNDERNEATH-- AND THE SCALE OF THE PROJECT IS PHENOMENAL. IT WAS GOING TO COVER AROUND 35 SQUARE KILOMETERS. SO IT'S AN INCREDIBLY AMBITIOUS CONSTRUCTION WHICH WAS NEVER FINISHED.

Narrator

THE SS SET UP A DEDICATED CONCENTRATION CAMP NEARBY TO SUPPLY THE SLAVE LABOR NEEDED FOR THE PROJECT, A BLACK-OPS SITE SO TOP-SECRET THAT TODAY ITS TRUE PURPOSE IS A MYSTERY.

Pollard

WHO CAN IMAGINE WHAT LIES INSIDE? IT'S A VILLAIN'S HIDEOUT EXTRAORDINAIRE. THE SIZE OF THESE ROCKS, THIS IS ALL VERY PRECARIOUS. 8 1/2 KILOMETERS OF TUNNEL ARE KNOWN TO EXIST DOWN HERE, AND THERE MIGHT BE ANOTHER 8 1/2 STILL WAITING TO BE DISCOVERED.

Narrator

THIS IS JUST ONE OF THOUSANDS OF INSTALLATIONS CREATED BY THE SS, AN ELITE HUMAN WEAPON THAT FORMED ONE OF THE CORNERSTONES OF NAZI GERMANY. THE ORIGINS OF THE SS LIE NEARLY 20 YEARS EARLIER AT THE VERY BEGINNING OF HITLER'S RISE TO POWER. 1925. GERMANY IS IN A STATE OF COLLAPSE FOLLOWING ITS DEFEAT IN WORLD WAR I. PUBLIC ANGER IS AT FEVER PITCH. A YOUNG ADOLF HITLER LEADS AN ULTRA-NATIONALIST POLITICAL MOVEMENT-- THE NAZI PARTY.

Man

THERE'S MASSIVE UNEMPLOYMENT. THERE'S ECONOMIC MELTDOWN. THERE'S HYPERINFLATION, AND THAT IS A FURTIVE BREEDING GROUND FOR VIOLENCE, THUGGERY, AND ALL SORTS OF BAD ELEMENTS. THEY'RE OFFERING AN OUTLET FOR YOUR OWN INDIVIDUAL ANGER.

Narrator

AS SUPPORT GROWS, HITLER BECOMES A TARGET FOR POLITICAL OPPONENTS. HE CREATES HIS OWN PERSONAL BODYGUARD TO PROTECT HIMSELF. ITS NAME IS THE SCHUTZSTAFFEL, OR PROTECTION SQUAD, KNOWN SIMPLY AS THE SS. WHILE HE'S ON HIS SOAPBOX, WHILE HE'S MAKING HIS SPEECHES, THEY NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT HE'S SAFE TO DELIVER WHAT HE NEEDS TO DELIVER. ONE DISILLUSIONED YOUNG MAN INSPIRED BY HITLER IS 25-YEAR-OLD CLERICAL ASSISTANT HEINRICH HIMMLER. HIMMLER BLAMES THE JEWS FOR GERMANY'S DEFEAT. HE IS SPURRED BY A DESIRE TO ERADICATE NON-GERMAN ETHNIC GROUPS. HE JOINS THE SS, NOW NEARLY 200 STRONG, AND QUICKLY RISES THROUGH ITS RANKS.

Holland

HE THINKS, "AH, THESE GUYS ARE FOR ME. "THIS IS WHERE I CAN PUT ON A UNIFORM. I CAN PLAY AT BEING A SOLDIER, AND I CAN DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE PLIGHT OF GERMANY."

Narrator

BY 1929, HE IS ITS LEADER AND HITLER'S RIGHT-HAND MAN. HIMMLER'S GOAL IS TO EVOLVE THE SS INTO A HUGE PARAMILITARY ORGANIZATION WITH UNDYING LOYALTY TO THE FUHRER. IN AN INTENSIVE RECRUITMENT DRIVE, HE SWELLS ITS NUMBERS TO 50,000 IN JUST 3 YEARS.

CROWD CHEERING

Narrator

IN 1933, HITLER AND THE NAZIS TAKE CONTROL OF GERMANY.

MAN SPEAKS GERMAN

Narrator

HITLER! SIEG HEIL! SIEG HEIL! SIEG HEIL!

Holland

SUDDENLY WHEN HITLER TAKES POWER, IT'S NOT ABOUT SECURING HITLER. IT'S ABOUT SECURING THE STATE, AS WELL, AND THAT MEANS POLICE, AND SUDDENLY YOUR NET IS JUST SPREADING WIDER AND WIDER.

Narrator

HIMMLER BECOMES POLICE CHIEF OF MUNICH. AS HIS POWER GROWS, THOUSANDS OF RECRUITS FLOCK TO THE SS. MEMBERSHIP ROCKETS TO AROUND 200,000, GIVING HIMMLER THE POWER TO MAKE HIS NEXT MOVE.

Holland

ONE OF THE WAYS, THEN, WHERE THE SS CAN EXERT ITSELF IS BY HELPING TO GET RID OF A LOT OF HITLER'S POLITICAL OPPONENTS, AND SO HIMMLER DEVELOPS THE IDEA OF THE CONCENTRATION CAMP. SO BASICALLY, YOU JUST CREATE THIS HUGE, GREAT CORDON, AND YOU ROUND UP YOUR POLITICAL PRISONERS, AND YOU PUT THEM THERE, AND THAT KEEPS THEM OUT OF SOCIETY, OUT OF YOUR WAY, NO LONGER A PROBLEM.

Narrator

HIMMLER BUILDS HIS FIRST CONCENTRATION CAMP ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF MUNICH IN THE TOWN OF DACHAU... AND HIS SS WILL RUN THE CAMP. PROFESSOR STEVEN REMY, AN EXPERT ON THE SS, IS EXPLORING THE RUINS. I'M AT THE OLDEST PART OF THE SITE. IT WAS AN ABANDONED MUNITIONS FACTORY, AND HEINRICH HIMMLER DECIDED IN MARCH 1933 TO CONVERT THE SITE INTO A CONCENTRATION CAMP, GERMANY'S FIRST CONCENTRATION CAMP. THESE BASIC BUILDINGS ARE INITIALLY FILLED WITH AROUND 200 PEOPLE, ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS. THIS PROTOTYPE CONCENTRATION CAMP CONSISTS OF 11 BARRACKS BUILDINGS SURROUNDED BY A BARBED-WIRE FENCE AND 3 GUARD TOWERS. HIMMLER DECIDES TO USE DACHAU TO ACCOMPLISH HIS NEXT GOAL.

MAN SHOUTING IN GERMAN

Narrator

HE WANTS TO EXPAND THE SS INTO AN ORGANIZATION THAT POLICES THE ENTIRE GERMAN NATION.

Remy

DACHAU WAS GOING TO BECOME A COMPLEX FOR TRAINING THE SS-- NOT JUST PRISON GUARDS FOR THIS CAMP AND FOR OTHER CAMPS, BUT FOR THIS INFRASTRUCTURE OF TERROR THAT WOULD BE RULED BY THE SS.

Narrator

HIMMLER NEEDS A COMMANDER FOR THE CAMP WHO CAN STRIKE FEAR INTO THE PRISONERS AND ALSO DELIVER DEADLY BATTALIONS OF SS GUARDS. HE CHOOSES FORMER SOLDIER AND CONVICTED TERRORIST THEODOR EICKE. THEODORE EICKE, THE FIRST IMPORTANT COMMANDANT OF DACHAU, HE IS THE MAN THAT HIMMLER ENTRUSTS WITH LAYING THE GROUNDWORK FOR THE REENGINEERING OF GERMAN SOCIETY USING THE CONCENTRATION CAMPS AS THE ANCHOR, AS THE BASIS. HIMMLER SEES IN HIM THE POTENTIAL AS SOMEBODY WHO CAN CREATE THIS INFRASTRUCTURE OF TERROR. EICKE'S NEW REGIME BEGINS WITH THE SS GUARDS THEMSELVES. HE CALLS THEM TOTENKOPFVERBANDE, OR DEATH'S HEAD UNIT. THEIR INSIGNIA IS THE SKULL AND CROSSBONES. EICKE INSISTS THAT CAMP GUARDS BE BRUTAL, THAT TOLERANCE MEANS WEAKNESS. Man,

as Eicke

I CAN ONLY USE HARD MEN WHO ARE DETERMINED TO DO ANYTHING. WE HAVE NO USE FOR WEAKLINGS.

Narrator

EICKE IS TURNING THE SS MEN FROM INDIVIDUALS INTO A UNIFIED TERROR MACHINE WITH POWER OF LIFE AND DEATH OVER DACHAU'S POLITICAL PRISONERS. BY 1934, OVER 2,000 ARE LOCKED UP, AND HIMMLER SEES AN OPPORTUNITY TO EXPLOIT THEM.

Holland

WHAT HE REALIZES IS THAT ACTUALLY, THESE ARE ABLE-BODIED MEN, A LOT OF THEM YOUNG MEN, AS WELL, AND YOU CAN USE THEM FOR DIFFERENT PURPOSES. YOU CAN USE THEM FOR LABOR. YOU CAN USE THEM FOR ALL SORTS OF THINGS.

Narrator

HIMMLER PLANS TO BUILD MORE CAMPS AND INCREASE PRISONER NUMBERS TO PROVIDE FREE LABOR. THEY WILL BE FORCED TO BUILD THE NAZI EMPIRE... BUT HIMMLER HAS A RIVAL, ANOTHER NAZI PARAMILITARY GROUP CALLED THE STURMABTEILUNG, OR SA. IT HAS AN ASTONISHING 3 MILLION MEMBERS AND WAS CRUCIAL TO HITLER'S POLITICAL TAKEOVER. HIMMLER PLOTS TO ENGINEER THE DOWNFALL OF THE SA AND ITS LEADER ERNST ROHM.

Holland

HIMMLER IS FACING A PROBLEM IN THE SA, WHICH IS STILL VERY MUCH THRIVING, AND SUDDENLY, THERE'S A POWER STRUGGLE EMERGING, AND HIMMLER SIMPLY CANNOT TOLERATE THIS. HIMMLER'S SOLUTION TO THIS IS BASICALLY JUST ERADICATE THE SA LEADERSHIP.

Narrator

TO GET THE FUHRER ON HIS SIDE, HIMMLER FABRICATES COMPELLING EVIDENCE THAT ROHM HAS BEEN PLANNING TO OVERTHROW HITLER.

MAN SHOUTING IN GERMAN

Narrator

IN AN EVENT KNOWN AS THE NIGHT OF THE LONG KNIVES, HUNDREDS ARE ROUNDED UP AND TAKEN INTO CUSTODY. HITLER PERSONALLY OVERSEES ROHM'S ARREST AND HANDING OVER TO THE SS.

Holland

HIMMLER SLOWLY BUT SURELY CONVINCES HITLER THAT YOU CAN'T HAVE HIM LANGUISHING IN A PRISON CELL LIKE A SORT OF MARTYR, A RALLYING POINT FOR ANY RADICALS OR DISCONTENTED PEOPLE, AND EVENTUALLY, HITLER IS PERSUADED.

Narrator

TWO DAYS AFTER ROHM'S ARREST, HIMMLER CALLS ON HIS MOST LOYAL STOOGE--THEODOR EICKE. Man,

as Eicke

YOU'VE GIVEN UP YOUR RIGHT TO LIVE. THE FUHRER HAS GIVEN YOU A FINAL CHANCE TO AVOID THE CONSEQUENCES.

Holland

ROHM IS GIVEN A PISTOL WITH A SINGLE BULLET IN AND TOLD TO DO THE DECENT THING AND "SHOOT YOURSELF AND END YOUR LIFE." WHEN THEY GO BACK IN 10 MINUTES LATER, THEY SEE THAT ROHM HASN'T MOVED A SINGLE MUSCLE. ON THE NIGHT OF THE LONG KNIVES, AS MANY AS 200 OF THE SA LEADERSHIP ARE MURDERED BRUTALLY AND IN COLD BLOOD. SO NOW THE BIGGEST PARAMILITARY ORGANIZATION IN GERMANY HAS GONE, LEAVING THE SS UNCHALLENGED AND HIMMLER'S LEADERSHIP UNCHALLENGED, AS WELL. SO HIS POWER AND HIS AUTHORITY ARE INCREASED MASSIVELY.

Narrator

NOW HIMMLER CAN ACCELERATE HIS GRAND PLAN TO ENGINEER THE SS INTO AN ORGANIZATION THAT CONTROLS EVERY PART OF GERMAN LIFE. HIMMLER'S DREAM IS TO CREATE A RACIALLY PURE GERMANY, BUT FIRST, HE MUST ENGINEER THE MINDS OF HIS SS MEN TO BELIEVE IN HIS CAUSE. HE DEVISES A MYTHOLOGY TO JUSTIFY HIS DARK DESIRES. HIMMLER IS, TO A LARGE EXTENT, A FANTASIST. HE'S REMEMBERING THE MYTHS AND LEGENDS THAT HE USED TO READ AS A BOY, THESE ANCIENT TALES OF TEUTONIC KNIGHTS, OF HEROISM. IT'S KIND OF SORT OF KING ARTHUR STUFF. IT'S KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE, AND HE SEES THE SS AS BEING A KIND OF SORT OF ALMOST LIKE A CHIVALRIC ORDER WHERE, YOU KNOW, ALL TRUE GERMANS ARE KIND OF TALL AND BROAD AND MUSCULAR AND BLOND-HAIRED AND BLUE-EYED, EVEN THOUGH, TO A PERSON, ALMOST ALL THE NAZI HIGH COMMAND AREN'T. HIMMLER SETS OUT A STANDARD THAT EVERY SS RECRUIT MUST MEET-- PERFECT VISION, AT LEAST 5'11" TALL, AND OVER A CENTURY OF PURE GERMAN ANCESTRY. IN 1934, HE ACQUIRES A CATHEDRAL FOR HIS SS KNIGHTS TO WORSHIP AT-- THE 17th-CENTURY CASTLE OF WEWELSBURG. 80 YEARS LATER, FORMER BRITISH ARMY OFFICER PATRICK BURY IS EXPLORING WHAT REMAINS OF HIMMLER'S VISION. WE'RE OUTSIDE A GUARD TOWER TO WEWELSBURG HERE, AND WHAT YOU CAN SEE IS THE OUTLINE OF ONE OF THE MOST NOTORIOUS EMBLEMS IN THE WORLD. ALONG WITH THE SWASTIKA, THE SS RUNES WERE SYNONYMOUS WITH EVIL ALL AROUND THE GLOBE. THE GUYS IN HERE WOULD HAVE BEEN A GUARD, YOUR AVERAGE SS GUARD, AND ONE OF THE INTERESTING THINGS ABOUT THIS IS THIS BECAUSE THIS IS BASICALLY A GUN PORTAL OR VIEWING SIGHT, AND THE IDEA IS THAT A SOLDIER STANDING INSIDE WOULD BE ABLE TO RAISE THE RIFLE TO HIS SHOULDER AND FIRE THROUGH IF HE NEEDED TO. YOU CAN TELL THAT THE SOLDIER INSIDE WAS MEANT TO BE TALLER THAN ME, AND THE IRONY ABOUT ALL THIS IS THAT YOU WOULD HAVE HAD A TALL, PERHAPS BLONDE SS SOLDIER SALUTING HIMMLER AS HE DRIVES INTO HIS OWN CASTLE, AND YET HIMMLER HIMSELF WEARS GLASSES AND IS SHORTER THAN THE 5'11" CRITERIA THAT HE HAS TO GET IN TO THE SS. HIMMLER'S VISION FOR WEWELSBURG IS TO MAKE IT THE ULTIMATE SPIRITUAL SEAT OF NAZI POWER. HE EMBARKS ON A MASSIVE RENOVATION PROJECT.

Bury

HIMMLER SELECTS WEWELSBURG CASTLE BECAUSE IT'S CLOSE TO THE HISTORIC BATTLE OF THE TEUTOBERG FOREST, AND IN THAT BATTLE, THE GERMANIC TRIBES BEAT THE ROMANS, AND IT SEEMS A GOLDEN AGE IN GERMAN HISTORY, BUT THIS SITE IS ALSO AN ANCIENT BURIAL AND WORSHIP AREA. SO HIMMLER HAS REALLY GOT A WHOLE LOAD OF HISTORY AND TRADITIONS THAT HE'S MISHMASHING TOGETHER AND THEN SAYING THAT WEWELSBURG REPRESENTS THESE. HIMMLER WANTS TO MAKE THE CASTLE LOOK AS GRAND AS POSSIBLE, AND SO THIS MOAT THAT WE'RE STANDING IN, HE DEEPENS IT AND HE WIDENS IT, AND THIS WALL HERE AND THIS BRIDGE IS NEW, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE HE MADE IT WIDER AND HE MADE IT BIGGER, AND, AGAIN, IT'S TO INCREASE THE GRANDIOSITY. YOU CAN SEE UP HERE, THERE'S A GARGOYLE WITH THE YEAR 1934 ON IT, SHOWS YOU WHEN THIS BRIDGE WAS RESTORED.

Narrator

ALL THE WORK IS CARRIED OUT BY CONCENTRATION CAMP PRISONERS. THIS TAR LINE HERE IS MORE INTERESTING THAN IT MAY FIRST APPEAR BECAUSE IT MARKS THE ROOF OF A BUILDING HUT THAT WAS HERE DURING THE WAR. THE PEOPLE WHO WORKED IN THE BUILDING HUT WOULD HAVE BEEN CONCENTRATION CAMP INMATES. HIMMLER, WHILE HE'S CONDUCTING HIS RENOVATIONS OF THE CASTLE, USES FORCED LABOR, AND HE EVEN BUILDS A CONCENTRATION CAMP NEARBY TO HOUSE ALL THE INMATES. IT'S CALLED NEIDERHAGEN, AND DURING THE WAR, IT HAD ABOUT 3,900 OCCUPANTS. OVER 1,200 OF THESE DIED. INSIDE THE CASTLE, THE WORK DONE BY THESE PRISONERS IS STILL EVIDENT. IT HOLDS CLUES TO HIMMLER'S OCCULT VISION FOR THE SS. HIMMLER SETS ABOUT REMODELING THE INTERIOR OF THE CASTLE, AND THE FLOORS HERE ARE QUITE INTERESTING BECAUSE THERE'S NATURAL STONE AND THERE'S CERAMIC BUT WITHIN THESE ARE SOME RUNIC DESIGNS AND SOME ABSTRACT DESIGNS, AND HERE, YOU CAN SEE, FOR EXAMPLE, THE SWASTIKA. THE FOCAL POINT OF THE ENTIRE COMPLEX IS THE HALL OF THE SUPREME LEADERS, A CIRCULAR ROOM WITH 12 COLUMNS REPRESENTING HIMMLER AND A GROUP OF SS KNIGHTS MIMICKING THE KNIGHTS OF ARTHURIAN LEGEND. AT THE CENTER OF THE MARBLE FLOOR IS A DECORATION BASED ON THE GERMAN TRIBAL SYMBOL FOR THE SUN. EACH OF THE 12 SPOKES POINT OUT TOWARDS A COLUMN, AND AROUND THE SYMBOL, A GIANT CIRCULAR TABLE WAS PUT FOR HIMMLER AND HIS KNIGHTS TO SIT AROUND. UNDERGROUND BENEATH THE HALL OF THE SUPREME LEADERS IS THE MYSTERIOUS CRYPT. NOW A MEMORIAL ART GALLERY, IN 1934, IT HAD A DARKER PURPOSE. HIMMLER BELIEVES THAT WEWELSBURG CASTLE IS SET ON THE SITE OF THE FUTURE COMING GREAT BATTLE BETWEEN THE WEST AND THE EAST IN WHICH THE WEST WILL EVENTUALLY TRIUMPH. HE ISSUES DEATH'S HEAD RINGS TO ALL HIS SS OFFICERS, AND HE PLANS THAT WHEN THEY DIE IN THIS GREAT BATTLE, HE WILL KEEP THE RINGS HERE. IN THE CENTER OF THE FLOOR IS A SUNKEN CIRCLE, AND WITHIN THIS CIRCLE IS A BASIN, AND RUNNING INTO THE BASIN IS A GAS PIPE, AND IT'S BELIEVED THAT HIMMLER INTENDED TO HAVE AN ETERNAL FLAME TO BURN FOR THE SS DEAD, AND YOU CAN SEE ABOVE HERE, WE'VE GOT THE SWASTIKA IN THE DOME, AND YOU'VE ALSO GOT SHAFTS TO ALLOW LIGHT TO COME RIGHT DOWN INTO THE CENTER OF THE CIRCLE SORT OF ILLUMINATING THE PLACE. WHAT HIMMLER IS TRYING TO DO HERE, REALLY, IS TO CREATE AN ETHOS AND A TRADITION, A RITUAL, BASICALLY, FOR HIS ORGANIZATION, AND THIS IS BASED ON THEIR PAST, BUT ALSO, CRUCIALLY, ON THEIR DESTINY. HIMMLER IS TRANSFORMING THE BUILDING INTO THE SPIRITUAL HEART OF HIS SS CULT. THIS STONEWORK MAY LOOK LIKE IT'S BEEN HERE FOR YEARS, BUT, IN FACT, IT'S JUST CLADDING OVER CONCRETE, AND IT'S A BIT LIKE HIMMLER'S VISIONS, MYTHS, AND TRADITIONS. IT'S SORT OF MADE-UP. IT'S FAKE. IT'S JUST A FACADE. THIS BUILDING REPRESENTS HIS ORGANIZATION. IT REPRESENTS THE TRADITIONS AND THE MYTHS AND EVERYTHING THAT HE WANTS TO INSTILL IN THE SS. IT'S INTERESTING TO THINK THAT WHILE, YOU KNOW, HE WAS EXPANDING WEWELSBURG CASTLE, HE'S ALSO BUSY EXPANDING THE SS. IN 1936, HIMMLER IS GIVEN CONTROL OF ALL GERMAN POLICE FORCES. THE SS ORGANIZATION NOW HAS TWO MAIN FACTIONS-- THE ALLGEMEINE SS CONTROLLING THE POLICE AND INTERNAL SECURITY AND THE TOTENKOPFVERBANDE ADMINISTERING THE CONCENTRATION CAMPS. HIMMLER REWRITES STATE LAW, GIVING THE SS POWER TO ARREST WHO THEY WANT WHEN THEY WANT. HE CREATES A CLIMATE OF FEAR WHERE EVEN THE SLIGHTEST OPPOSITION TO THE NAZIS MEANS ARREST. HUGE NUMBERS OF PEOPLE ARE ROUNDED UP, AND THIS MEANS A NEW PROBLEM. BY 1937, THERE ARE 3 MAIN CONCENTRATION CAMPS IN GERMANY-- SACHSENHAUSEN, BUCHENWALD, AND DACHAU-- BUT THEY'RE NOT BIG ENOUGH TO HOLD THE INFLUX OF PRISONERS. DACHAU WAS ORIGINALLY DESIGNED TO HOLD 5,000. HIMMLER'S AIM IS FOR IT TO HOLD 10 TIMES AS MANY. IT WILL FALL TO THE SS LABOR FORCE OF PRISONERS TO MASSIVELY EXPAND THE CAMP. THE EVIDENCE OF THEIR PLIGHT CAN STILL BE SEEN. I'M AT THE JOURHAUS, THE MAIN ADMINISTRATION BUILDING FOR THE PRISONERS CAMP. AS PRISONERS ENTERED DACHAU, THEY CAME UNDERNEATH THIS ARCHWAY, AND THEY CAME THROUGH THIS GATE AND THEY SAW THIS-- "ARBEIT MACHT FREI." IT MEANS "WORK WILL MAKE YOU FREE." IT WAS ONE OF THE MOST PERVERSE LIES THAT THE SS TOLD PRISONERS. THIS GATE ITSELF WAS, LIKE THE REST OF THIS BUILDING, BUILT BY PRISONER LABOR. HEINRICH HIMMLER ENVISIONED HOLDING TENS OF THOUSANDS OF PRISONERS IN DACHAU AND IN OTHER CONCENTRATION CAMPS. THESE ARE THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE BARRACKS BUILT WHEN THE SS REBUILT AND EXPANDED THE CAMP. BY THE END OF THE WAR, THERE WERE 34 BARRACKS. THE SCALE OF THIS BUILDING PROJECT AT DACHAU AND OTHER CAMPS REFLECTS THE SCALE AND THE AMBITION OF THE SS IN CONSTRUCTING AN INFRASTRUCTURE OF TERROR IN GERMANY AND EUROPE. THE DARK INGENUITY OF THE SS SYSTEM IS THAT, DESPITE THOUSANDS OF PRISONERS, THERE ARE ONLY JUST OVER A HUNDRED GUARDS.

Remy

SO WHY WEREN'T THERE PRISONER REBELLIONS? THE SS EMPLOYED A SYSTEM OF DIVIDE AND RULE. THEY EXPLOITED DIVISIONS AMONG PRISONERS. THEY USED PRISONERS AS INFORMANTS, AND THEY ALSO USED PRISONERS TO MONITOR AND POLICE OTHER PRISONERS.

Narrator

USING PRISONER LABOR, THE CAMP IS COMPLETELY REDEVELOPED. OVER 13,000 ARE IMPRISONED BY 1937. ADJACENT TO THE CAMP IS THE SS TRAINING COMPLEX. IT IS OVER 4 TIMES THE SIZE. THIS WAS A FOUNDATION STONE FOR AN ARCHWAY OVER THE MAIN ENTRANCE TO THE SS COMPOUND. THE SS COMPOUND WAS ENORMOUS, MUCH, MUCH LARGER THAN THE ADJACENT PRISONERS CAMP. IT WAS A SELF-CONTAINED WORLD. THERE WERE BARRACKS, LIVING QUARTERS FOR OFFICERS AND THEIR FAMILIES, WORKSHOPS, ENTERTAINMENT AND SPORT COMPLEXES. THIS SITE IS NOW CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC, BUT STEVEN REMY HAS BEEN GRANTED ACCESS TO SEARCH FOR ITS SS PAST. THE REMAINS OF THIS CARVING MAY HAVE BEEN CREATED FOR THE SS COMPOUND. OUR CLUE IS THE USE OF THE WORD "FUHRER." THIS IS A LINE FROM AN OLD SCANDINAVIAN TEXT. IT SAYS, VERY ROUGHLY, "I FOLLOW THE DUKE, THE BEST LEADER OF MY MOST JOYFUL YEARS OF TRAVEL." WHILE PRISONERS STARVE, WEAKENED BY OVERWORK, GUARDS AND THEIR FAMILIES RELAX IN SWIMMING POOLS. I'M STANDING IN WHAT MAY HAVE BEEN A SWIMMING POOL IN THE SS COMPOUND. SS RECRUITS SOCIALIZE TOGETHER. THEY PLAYED SPORTS TOGETHER. YOU WERE EXPECTED TO SHOW INITIATIVE. YOU WERE EXPECTED TO VOLUNTEER, BUT YOU WERE ALSO EXPECTED TO CONFORM, TO CONFORM TO A CULTURE OF BRUTALITY. BY 1938, THE SS HAS EFFECTIVELY DESTROYED ALL POLITICAL OPPOSITION TO HITLER WITHIN GERMANY. HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS SERVE IN ITS RANKS. SECURE AT HOME, HITLER ANNEXES AUSTRIA AND PARTS OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA. THE SS PREPARES FOR ITS GREATEST CHALLENGE-- THE DOMINATION OF EUROPE. AS NAZI GERMANY PREPARES FOR WAR, HIMMLER WANTS THE SS TO BE AT THE HEART OF THE FIGHT. HE'S PLANNING A MILITARY FACTION OF HIS MACHINE--THE WAFFEN SS.

Holland

BY 1939, THERE'S AROUND A QUARTER OF A MILLION PEOPLE IN THE SS, BUT THEY DON'T HAVE ANY FORMAL MILITARY TRAINING. THEY'RE POLICEMEN. THEY'RE SECURITY MEN. THEY'RE CAMP GUARDS, AND THAT'S QUITE A DIFFERENT THING FROM BEING FRONT-LINE SOLDIERS.

Narrator

IN PREPARATION FOR THE COMING WAR, HIMMLER HAS CONSTRUCTED A MILITARY TRAINING FACILITY IN THE TOWN OF BAD TOLZ. PARTS OF THE STRUCTURE ARE STILL RECOGNIZABLE TODAY.

Remy

THIS IS BAD TOLZ, AND IT'S HERE THAT HEINRICH HIMMLER CHOOSES TO BUILD A SCHOOL TO TRAIN THE POLITICAL AND MILITARY ELITE OF THE SS, AND THESE TWO TOWERS MARK THE ENTRYWAY TO THE SCHOOL.

Narrator

THE SCHOOL IS DESIGNED TO TRAIN ELITE OFFICERS TO LEAD FUTURE ARMIES OF SS SOLDIERS. WHEN HIMMLER CREATES THIS SCHOOL, HE HAS IN MIND AS A BASIC MODEL SANDHURST IN GREAT BRITAIN OR WEST POINT IN THE UNITED STATES, BUT IT'S GOING TO BE MUCH MORE THAN THAT. ALONG WITH 5 HOURS OF POLITICAL EDUCATION EACH WEEK, BAD TOLZ FOCUSES ON MILITARY TRAINING AND ATHLETICS.

Remy

HEINRICH HIMMLER HAD A BIT OF A STRANGE FASCINATION WITH THE BRITISH ARISTOCRACY, THE BRITISH ELITE. HE BELIEVED THAT THIS ELITE DOMINATED BRITISH SOCIETY, AND HE EXPECTED THE SS TO SERVE A SIMILAR FUNCTION IN THE NEW GERMANY. SOME OF THE PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES, SOME OF THE RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES THAT OFFICERS WERE TO BE TRAINED IN AT BAD TOLZ REFLECTED THIS FASCINATION WITH THE BRITISH ELITE-- HORSEBACK RIDING AND EVEN CRICKET.

Narrator

BY THE START OF 1939, BAD TOLZ IS TURNING OUT HUNDREDS OF WAFFEN SS OFFICERS PER YEAR. HIMMLER'S SS STRUCTURE NOW HAS THREE PARTS. THE TOTENKOPFVERBANDE RUN THE CONCENTRATION CAMPS. THE ALLGEMEINE SS CONTROL POLICE AND SECURITY, AND THE WAFFEN SS IS THE MILITARY COMBAT ARM. BY SEPTEMBER 1939, HITLER IS READY FOR WAR AND PLANS TO ATTACK POLAND.

Holland

AND SO HE'S GOT TO FIND AN EXCUSE TO JUSTIFY HIS INVASION INTO POLAND, AND WHO'S GONNA DO THIS FOR HIM? WELL, THERE'S ONLY ONE ORGANIZATION HE'S GOING TO TURN TO, AND THAT'S HIMMLER'S SS.

Narrator

HIMMLER CREATES A PLAN FOR AN SS BLACK-OPS RAID. HE DECIDES TO FAKE AN ATTACK ON A GERMAN RADIO STATION IN GLEIWITZ NEAR THE POLISH BORDER. WHAT HIMMLER AND HIS SS SUGGEST IS AN ENTIRELY CYNICAL OPERATION WHEREBY SS MEN DRESS UP AS POLISH SOLDIERS AND DO A MOCK ATTACK OF THE GLEIWITZ RADIO STATION, AND THEN THEY CAN TURN AROUND AND GO, "LOOK. "WE DIDN'T START IT. IT WAS THE POLES, AND HERE'S THE EVIDENCE". AUGUST 31, 1939. A TEAM OF SS MEN PRETENDING TO BE POLISH ATTACKERS BREAK INTO THE RADIO STATION AND ASSAULT THE GERMAN STAFF. Man,

as SS member

HANDS UP! HANDS UP!

Narrator

IN BERLIN, HIMMLER WAITS, TUNED IN TO THE STATION. ONE OF THE SS MEN BROADCASTS A MESSAGE IN FLUENT POLISH TO MAKE IT LOOK LIKE POLAND HAS ATTACKED GERMANY. Man,

as SS member

ATTENTION. THIS STATION IS NOW IN POLISH HANDS. Man,

as Himmler

MEIN FUHRER, IT IS DONE. WHAT'S INCREDIBLE ABOUT IT IS THAT IN JUST A FEW MINUTES OF THIS SORT OF FAUX ATTACK ON THE GLEIWITZ RADIO STATION, BEATING UP A FEW PEOPLE, THE SS HAVE MANAGED TO ENGINEER THE PERFECT EXCUSE HITLER NEEDS, AND THE NEXT DAY, HE GOES ON RADIO AND SAYS, "LOOK WHAT THESE POLES HAVE DONE. "ISN'T IT TERRIBLE? WELL, I'VE GOT TO DEFEND MY OWN PEOPLE." WHAT GLEIWITZ SHOWS IS THAT THE SS IS NOW NOT JUST A POLITICAL WEAPON. IT'S AN ACTUAL MARTIAL WEAPON, AS WELL, ONE THAT CAN BE USED IN A FORTHCOMING WAR.

Narrator

THANKS TO THE SS, HITLER INVADES POLAND. WORLD WAR II HAS BEGUN, AND THE SS IS ABOUT TO EXPORT ITS REIGN OF TERROR ACROSS EUROPE. IN SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER 1939, POLAND FALLS TO THE NAZIS. HITLER NOW LOOKS WEST TO FRANCE AND BRITAIN. A NEWLY FORMED WAFFEN SS COMBAT UNIT WILL LEAD THE ASSAULT. IT WILL BE LED BY DACHAU CONCENTRATION CAMP COMMANDER THEODOR EICKE.

Holland

IT'S INTERESTING THAT THE MAN WHO HAS DEVISED, REALLY PIONEERED, THE CONCENTRATION CAMP, THE GERMAN CONCENTRATION CAMP, THEODORE EICKE, IS NOW PUT IN CHARGE OF THE FIRST PROPER WAFFEN SS DIVISION, THE TOTENKOPF DIVISION, THE DEATH'S HEAD.

Narrator

ON MAY 16, 1940, EICKE'S DIVISION HEADS TO THE WESTERN FRONT.

Holland

SO THEY'RE REALLY, REALLY WELL-EQUIPPED, AND THEY'RE ALSO INCREDIBLY FIRED-UP. THEY KNOW THAT THEY ARE THE ABSOLUTE ELITE. THESE ARE THE GUYS WHO ARE GOING INTO BATTLE FOR HITLER, FOR THE NAZI IDEALS, FOR THE FATHERLAND. THEY'VE COME FROM THE CONCENTRATION CAMPS, WHERE VIOLENCE IS PART AND PARCEL OF EVERYDAY LIFE, AND SO THERE'S ALREADY A KIND OF SORT OF BRUTALIZATION, A DEHUMANIZATION AT THE VERY CORE OF THIS UNIT, WHICH THEY DO BRING TO THE BATTLE FRONT.

Narrator

BY EARLY SUMMER 1940, THE BRITISH AND FRENCH FORCES ARE FALLING BACK TO THE ATLANTIC COAST FOLLOWED BY THE RAMPAGING GERMANS, AND THE SS COMMIT ONE OF THEIR FIRST MILITARY ATROCITIES. WAFFEN SS SOLDIERS REACH THE FRENCH VILLAGE OF LE PARADIS. THEY APPROACH A BRITISH UNIT ISOLATED IN A FARMHOUSE.

SHOUTS IN GERMAN

Narrator

SS SOLDIERS IN COMBAT CAMOUFLAGE START THEIR ASSAULT.

Man

FIRE!

Narrator

THE 99 BRITISH SOLDIERS DEFEND THE FARMHOUSE ALL AFTERNOON BUT EXHAUST THEIR AMMUNITION. THEIR COMMANDER SURRENDERS.

SHOUTING IN GERMAN

Holland

IF YOU TAKE A PRISONER AT THIS STAGE OF THE WAR, YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO FOLLOW THE GENEVA CONVENTION, WHICH MEANS YOU TAKE THEM PRISONER, YOU DISARM THEM, AND YOU PUT THEM IN A PRISON CAMP.

Narrator

THE SS SOLDIERS START THE BRITISH MARCHING, BUT INSTEAD OF TAKING THEM TO A PRISONER OF WAR CAMP... THEY MASSACRE THEM. TWO SURVIVORS LATER REVEAL THE MURDERS TO THE WORLD.

Holland

THE EXTRAORDINARY THING ABOUT LE PARADIS IS, THERE'S NO REAL REASON FOR THEM EXECUTING THEM AT ALL. I MEAN, THEY'VE JUST HAD QUITE A TOUGH FIGHT. THEY'VE LOST A NUMBER OF THEIR OWN MEN, AND I THINK IT'S JUST THAT THEIR BLOOD IS UP AND REVENGE IS IN THE AIR. WHAT THE SS HAVE DONE IS CREATE AN ATMOSPHERE AND A TRAINING MACHINE IN WHICH THE TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE SOMEHOW BECOMES ACCEPTABLE. THE FREE WORLD IS LOOKING BACK IN HORROR, JUST THINKING, "HOW ON EARTH DID THIS HAPPEN?"

Narrator

IN 1941, HITLER SETS HIS SIGHTS ON RUSSIA. HIS PLAN IS TO CONQUER VAST SWATHES OF LAND FOR THE GERMAN PEOPLE. IT WILL BE HIMMLER'S JOB TO CLEAR THE MILLIONS OF SLAVS, ROMA, AND JEWS WHO LIVE THERE. AS THE INVASION OF RUSSIA APPROACHES, HE CALLS A MOMENTOUS MEETING AT WEWELSBURG CASTLE. HIMMLER GATHERS HIS SS LEADERS HERE AND BRIEFS THEM ABOUT THE FORTHCOMING EXTERMINATION OF THE EASTERN RACE. ONE OF THOSE PRESENT RECORDS HIMMLER'S CHILLING WORDS. Man,

as Himmler

GENTLEMEN, IT IS A QUESTION OF EXISTENCE. THUS, IT WILL BE A RACIAL STRUGGLE OF PITILESS SEVERITY, IN THE COURSE OF WHICH 20 TO 30 MILLION SLAVS AND JEWS WILL PERISH THROUGH MILITARY ACTIONS AND CRISES OF FOOD SUPPLY.

Holland

THE WHOLE IDEA ABOUT THE INVASION OF SOVIET UNION IS THAT THIS IS GOING TO BE A WAR OF ANNIHILATION. THIS IS A KIND OF TERMINOLOGY THAT IS DEEPLY SINISTER AND IS OBVIOUSLY GOING TO UNLEASH A VAST AMOUNT OF TERROR AND VIOLENCE INTO THE SOVIET UNION, AND WHAT THEY'RE GONNA DO IS, THEY'RE GONNA ROUND UP PRISONERS, THESE UNDESIRABLES, AND BASICALLY EXECUTE THEM. THE SS EVENTUALLY DECIDE THAT THEY WILL SHIP MILLIONS TO CONCENTRATION CAMPS. THIS PRESENTS THE SS WITH A MASSIVE LOGISTICAL CHALLENGE. THE CHALLENGE IS TO MOVE HUGE NUMBERS OF PEOPLE ACROSS VAST SPACES IN THE MIDDLE OF A WAR.

Narrator

THE SOLUTION IS THE PRE-EXISTING RAILWAY NETWORK. THIS GHOSTLIKE REMNANT IS THE REMAINS OF THE RAILWAY SPUR THAT THE SS BUILT THAT CONNECTED THE RAILWAY STATION IN THE TOWN OF DACHAU WITH THE SS COMPOUND AND THE DACHAU CONCENTRATION CAMP BEYOND. RAILWAY NETWORKS BECAME ABSOLUTELY CRUCIAL TO THE SS. THEY'RE A FAST AND EFFICIENT WAY OF MOVING HUGE NUMBERS OF PEOPLE ACROSS VAST DISTANCES. THE ENTIRE EUROPEAN RAIL NETWORK WILL BECOME PART OF THE SS MACHINE, TRANSPORTING MILLIONS ACROSS THE CONTINENT. THE SS IS NOW READY TO LAUNCH THE BIGGEST AND MOST HORRIFIC OPERATION HIMMLER HAS EVER ATTEMPTED. JUNE 22, 1941. GERMANY INVADES RUSSIA. WITHIN A YEAR, HIMMLER'S PLAN TO KILL MILLIONS IS FULLY UNDER WAY.

Remy

THE OPERATIONAL DETAILS ARE SUPPOSED TO REMAIN SECRET, AND TO KEEP THEM SECRET THE SS RELIES ON THE USE OF EUPHEMISMS. "THE FINAL SOLUTION TO THE JEWISH QUESTION" IS A EUPHEMISM. "TRANSPORT TO THE EAST" IS A EUPHEMISM. THERE ARE MANY OF THESE EUPHEMISMS THAT THE SS USES TO ATTEMPT TO COVER ITS TRACKS, KNOWING FULL WELL THAT WHAT IS BEING DONE HERE IS A CRIME OF UNPRECEDENTED PROPORTIONS.

Narrator

HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE ARE ROUNDED UP AND TRANSPORTED ACROSS EUROPE. THE CONDITIONS WERE UNIMAGINABLY HORRIBLE. THE NAZIS CONVERTED CATTLE CARS TO TRANSPORT PEOPLE. THEY WERE OVERPACKED. IN THE SUMMER, THEY WERE BROILING HOT. IN THE WINTER THEY WERE FREEZING COLD. OFTEN, THE TRANSPORTS HAD TO STOP IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE, SOMETIMES FOR DAYS ON END. AN UNKNOWN AND UNKNOWABLE NUMBER OF PEOPLE DIED ON THESE TRANSPORTS. THOSE THAT SURVIVE THE TRANSPORTATION ARRIVE AT A NEW KIND OF HELL-- DOZENS OF HUGE SS CAMPS.

Holland

AND A LOT OF THESE CAMPS NOW ARE NO LONGER JUST CONCENTRATION CAMPS WHERE YOU WOULD HAVE PRISONERS THAT YOU CAN THEN USE FOR LABOR. THEY'RE BASICALLY DEATH CAMPS, EXTERMINATION CAMPS WHERE THEY'RE HERDED THERE FOR ONE PURPOSE, REALLY, ONE PURPOSE ONLY, AND THAT IS TO JUST ELIMINATE THEM.

Narrator

GAS CHAMBERS ARE THE FAVORED SYSTEM OF MASS EXECUTION AT MANY CAMPS, BUT AT DACHAU, FIRING SQUADS ARE USED.

Remy

HIDDEN IN THE WOODS A FEW MILES FROM DACHAU, THE SS BUILT A SHOOTING RANGE. THESE GATE POSTS MARK THE ENTRY TO THE RANGE, AND HERE, THESE FITTINGS HELD TWO BLACK Ss IN THE SHAPE OF LIGHTNING BOLTS, THE UNMISTAKABLE SYMBOL OF THE SS. 1941 AND 1942, THE SS CONDUCTED A MAJOR KILLING OPERATION RIGHT HERE. THIS WALL STILL BEARS THE MARKINGS OF SS TARGET PRACTICE. SOME 4,000 SOVIET PRISONERS OF WAR WERE BROUGHT TO THE SHOOTING RANGE, AND THEY WERE EXECUTED HERE SYSTEMATICALLY BY THE SS.

Narrator

BY AUGUST 1943, HIMMLER APPEARS TO BE FULFILLING HIS DREAM OF SS DOMINATION, BUT HIS SICKENING DISREGARD FOR HUMAN LIFE IS EVIDENT IN HIS LETTERS HOME TO HIS WIFE. Man,

as Himmler

IN THE COMING DAYS, I'LL BE IN LUBLIN, AUSCHWITZ, AND LVOV. ALL THE BEST. HAVE A GOOD TRIP AND HAVE A GOOD TIME WITH OUR LITTLE DAUGHTER. LOTS OF WARM WISHES AND KISSES.

Narrator

THE SS OPERATES ITS OWN MILITARY UNITS, CONCENTRATION CAMPS, AND POLICE FORCES. HIMMLER MASTERMINDS A VAST ETHNIC CLEANSING PROGRAM AND CONTROLS AN EMPIRE THAT REACHES INTO EVERY PART OF OCCUPIED EUROPE. THE SCALE OF ITS AMBITION, THE EXTENT OF ITS REACH, THE VASTNESS OF ITS CRIMES ARE UNPRECEDENTED IN HISTORY. BUT THE TIDE IS BEGINNING TO TURN AGAINST NAZI GERMANY. THE RUSSIANS ARE FIGHTING BACK. TO DEFEND THE THIRD REICH, HITLER ORDERS THE CONSTRUCTION OF A MASSIVE SERIES OF UNDERGROUND BASES BUILT BY SS SLAVE LABOR. ONE OF THE LARGEST AND MOST MYSTERIOUS PROJECTS, CODENAMED GIANT, CAN STILL BE FOUND IN MODERN-DAY POLAND. DR. TONY POLLARD IS INVESTIGATING ITS REMAINS. THE NAZIS HAD AN OUTLANDISH PLAN TO BUILD WHAT WAS ESSENTIALLY AN UNDERGROUND CITY AT A PLACE CALLED OSOWKA IN THE OWL MOUNTAINS. WE'RE NOT 100% SURE WHAT THEY INTENDED TO DO THERE, BUT IT LOOKS AS THOUGH AS THE WAR STARTED TO GO BADLY FOR THEM, THEY WANTED A SAFE BOLT HOLE. CLUES TO ITS PURPOSE ARE HIDDEN AROUND THE SITE. ABOVE GROUND, THE SS CONSTRUCT 36 MILES OF ROADS AND DOZENS OF BUILDINGS. BENEATH THE SURFACE, A HUGE ENGINEERING EFFORT HOLLOWS OUT THE MOUNTAINS. SUPERVISED BY THE SS, 23,000 PRISONERS CONSTRUCT 8 SEPARATE COMPLEXES DESIGNED TO CONNECT UNDERGROUND. EVIDENCE OF THEIR LABOR IS STILL SCATTERED AROUND THE SITE.

Pollard

WOW, THIS REALLY INTERESTING BECAUSE THESE WERE SACKS OF CEMENT AND THEY'VE PRESERVED THEIR SHAPE, EVEN THOUGH THE SACK ITSELF HAS LONG SINCE DECAYED AWAY, AND THE FORCED LABORERS WORKING ON THIS PROJECT WOULD OPERATE IN 3 SHIFTS A DAY TO WORK 24 HOURS AROUND THE CLOCK, AND IN A WAY, I GUESS THIS LITTLE MOUND OF CEMENT SACKS IN THIS FOREST IS A LITTLE MONUMENT TO THAT SACRIFICE AND THAT WASTE OF HUMAN LIFE. THE PLAN WAS TO HOUSE 27,000 PEOPLE ACROSS THIS BASE, AND ONE OF THE FIRST BUILDINGS TO BE CONSTRUCTED ON SITE IS SAID TO BE THIS, AND IT'S A BARRACKS FOR THE OFFICERS WHO WERE SENT HERE TO OVERSEE THE OPERATION, AND EVEN IN THIS DILAPIDATED STATE, YOU CAN SEE IT WAS QUITE GRANDIOSE BUT ALSO VERY PRACTICAL. IT'S GOT VERY THICK CONCRETE WALLS TO PROTECT FROM BLAST AND PROBABLY EVEN BLAST DOORS AND FRAMES OVER THE WINDOWS. I'VE NEVER REALLY SEEN THIS BEFORE. IT'S WEIRD. IT'S STRIPS OF WOOD THAT HAVE BEEN BONDED TOGETHER AND GLUED TO THE WALL ON THE INSIDE OF THE BUILDING, AND THIS IS A FORM OF INSULATION AND SOUNDPROOFING, AND IT'S AN INDICATION, AGAIN, THAT THIS IS A SPECIAL BUILDING. IT'S VERY PRACTICAL IN THAT IT'S FORTIFIED. IT'S ALMOST A BUNKER, BUT INSIDE, IT'S MEANT TO BE QUITE COMFORTABLE, AND IF YOU CAN IMAGINE OFFICERS IN HERE, THEY'RE GONNA BE PLANNING OPERATIONS, AND THEY'RE NOT GONNA WANT TO BE OVERHEARD. SO IF THEY'RE IN THEIR OFFICES, THIS STUFF IS GONNA GIVE THEM A LITTLE BIT OF PRIVACY.

Narrator

ONE MOUNTAINSIDE ENTRANCE IS STILL ACCESSIBLE. WHOA. WHEW... SOON AS YOU WALK INSIDE, THE TEMPERATURE DROPS LIKE A STONE. IT'S FREEZING IN HERE. A WARREN OF TUNNELS LEAD FROM THE SURFACE TO ALMOST 165 FEET BENEATH THE MOUNTAIN. THEY'VE CHIPPED AWAY MANUALLY AT THE ROCK-- YOU CAN SEE WHERE THEY'VE BEEN PECKING AWAY-- AND THAT'S THE POINT ABOUT THIS. IT'S NOT A MECHANICAL EXERCISE. THIS WOULD HAVE TAKEN THOUSANDS OF WORKERS A HECK OF A LONG TIME TO BURROW INTO THIS MOUNTAIN. THE BASE IS DESIGNED TO TRAP ATTACKERS IN CONFINED SPACES AND WITHSTAND A LONG SIEGE. WOW, LOOK AT THIS. GOOD GRIEF, WHAT IS THIS? THIS IS QUITE A SURPRISE. EVERYTHING ELSE HAS JUST BEEN BARE ROCK UP TILL NOW, BUT IN THIS SIDE CHAMBER, THERE'S A CONCRETE EDIFICE, AND IT LOOKS LIKE A PILL BOX. I'M GONNA HAVE TO USE A TORCH ON IT BECAUSE IT'S PRETTY DARK IN HERE, NOT SURPRISINGLY. OH, WOW! YEAH. IT MUST BE. IT MUST BE A PILL BOX. WE'VE GOT A GUN PORT HERE LINED WITH TIMBER, AND THEN AT THE BACK, THERE'S A STEEL SHUTTER. SO THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN, I PRESUME, A MACHINE GUN PROTRUDING THROUGH THIS, AND IT MAKES TOTAL SENSE BECAUSE IT'S COVERING THE ENTRANCE AT A RIGHT ANGLE. THIS IS CLEARLY THE PRODUCT OF A PARANOID MIND. IT'S LIKE SOMETHING A SUPER VILLAIN IN A JAMES BOND MOVIE WOULD BUILD AS A HIDEOUT, BUT DR. NO HAS GOT NOTHING ON THIS. YEAH. WE'VE GOT A FULLY FORMED BUNKER HERE, PROBABLY THE AMMUNITION STORE IN THERE. WOW. LOOK AT THIS-- HEAVY-DUTY ARMOR PLATING. SO THERE WOULD BE A MACHINE GUN THROUGH HERE, AND I CAN CLEARLY SEE INTO THE PASSAGE THERE. NOBODY IS GETTING THROUGH THERE IF YOU DON'T WANT THEM TO, AND LOOK AT THIS. THIS IS A--

PAT PAT

Narrator

A CHUTE FOR ROLLING GRENADES DOWN AT THE ENEMY. SO YOU COULD DROP THEM DOWN THERE. THEY'D TUMBLE ONTO THE FLOOR, AND I WOULD IMAGINE THERE'D BE SOME FORM OF SHUTTERING. YEAH. THERE'S STEEL HERE. SOMETHING HAS BEEN REMOVED. YOU COULD CLOSE THE SHUTTER AND, OBVIOUSLY, IT WOULD BE BOMBPROOF, BLASTPROOF, BUT ANYBODY OUT THERE EXPOSED TRYING TO ATTACK THIS POSITION, IS GOING TO BE BLOWN TO PIECES. THE NAZIS HAD A STRANGE IDEA OF WHAT THE FUTURE WAS GONNA LOOK LIKE, THAT'S FOR SURE. MUCH OF THE CITADEL IS ONLY ACCESSIBLE BY RAFT. OH, YOU'RE KIDDING ME. THIS SECTION OF THE TUNNEL SYSTEM IS ENTIRELY FLOODED. IT'S JUST BEEN A FEW DRIPS BEFORE NOW, BUT THIS HAS GONE WAY BEYOND THAT, AND IT GIVES A GOOD INDICATION OF THE DIFFICULTIES OF WORKING AND THEN, I SUPPOSE, LIVING UNDERGROUND BECAUSE WATER IS GOING TO BE A CONSTANT PROBLEM PERCOLATING THROUGH THE ROCKS AND HIDDEN UNDERGROUND STREAMS, AND SO PART OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE OF WHATEVER IS TAKING PLACE DOWN HERE WOULD HAVE TO BE A PUMP SYSTEM THAT, I IMAGINE, WOULD BE WORKING 24/7 TO KEEP THIS PLACE AT LEAST MODERATELY DRY. IF ANYTHING GOES WRONG DOWN HERE, YOU COULD BE TRAPPED DOWN HERE LIKE A RAT IN A HOLE. WHILE GERMAN CIVILIANS SUFFER UNDER ALLIED AIR ATTACKS, GERMANY'S DWINDLING RESOURCES ARE DIVERTED TO PROJECT GIANT. HALF A MILLION TONS OF CONCRETE ARE USED. THE SHEER SCALE SUGGESTS SOME OF THE LIKELIEST THEORIES FOR ITS USE-- WEAPONS FACTORIES AND A HEADQUARTERS FOR HITLER, HIMMLER, AND THE SS.

Holland

WHAT HIMMLER HAS SEEN FROM THE VERY ELABORATE SORT OF BUNKER COMPLEXES THAT HITLER HAS BUILT FOR HIS OWN HEADQUARTERS IS THAT, ACTUALLY, IT IS POSSIBLE TO EXIST UNDERGROUND. TO CREATE THESE NEW FACTORIES THAT ARE GONNA BE DUG OUT OF MOUNTAINSIDES, YOU NEED A LOT OF LABOR. IT'S VERY LABOR-INTENSIVE PROJECTS. THE ONLY WAY YOU'RE GONNA GET THAT IS THROUGH SLAVE LABOR, FORCED LABOR, AND THE SS ARE THE ONLY ONES TO IMPLEMENT IT.

SHOUTING IN GERMAN

Holland

WHAT HE'S LOOKING FOR HERE IS EXTENDING THE LIFE OF THE REICH, IN FACT, MAKING IT IMMORTAL AND, IN DOING SO, MAKING HIMSELF IMMORTAL. TO STILL BE GOING ON AND CONTINUING THE WAR EFFORT, EVEN WHEN ALL AROUND YOU, YOUR CITIES HAVE BEEN LARGELY DESTROYED, AND GOING ON BY CREATING UNDERGROUND FACTORIES AND FACTORIES IN THE SIDES OF A MOUNTAIN IS, FRANKLY, ABSOLUTELY LUNATIC. IT'S A BONKERS USE OF YOUR RESOURCES, EVEN IF THOSE, OR A LOT OF THOSE, RESOURCES ARE SLAVE LABOR.

Narrator

BY THE SUMMER OF 1944, COMPLETION OF THE COMPLEX IS ESTIMATED TO BE OVER A YEAR AWAY... BUT THE RUSSIANS ARE ADVANCING, AND IN JUNE, THE WESTERN ALLIES LAUNCH D-DAY. THE WAR IS CLOSING IN ON HIMMLER, THE NAZIS, AND THE SS. AS THE RED ARMY PUSHES THROUGH POLAND IN LATE 1944, THE THIRD REICH SHRINKS, AND HIMMLER'S SS INFRASTRUCTURE IS AT RISK OF BEING OVERRUN. IN 1945, A PANICKED EVACUATION BEGINS OF THE AREA SURROUNDING PROJECT GIANT. OH, HANG ON. WHAT'S THIS? WHAT'S THIS? OH, WOW. LOOK AT THAT. THAT IS A CLASSIC COAL SCUTTLE GERMAN HELMET FROM WORLD WAR II. OH, IT'S STILL GOT PART OF THE STRAPPING, HEADBAND AND A LOOP FOR THE CHIN STRAP. THE GERMANS ABANDONED THIS SYSTEM IN A GREAT HURRY AT THE END OF THE WAR AND JUST GAVE UP ON IT. BY MARCH, THE GERMAN WAR MACHINE IS CRUMBLING. HIMMLER'S ENTIRE SS OPERATION, OVER 15 YEARS IN THE MAKING, IS ON THE BRINK OF COLLAPSE. AS THE GERMANS ARE BEING FORCED TO RETREAT, THEY'RE VERY CAREFUL TO TRY AND HIDE THEIR CRIMES AS MUCH AS THEY POSSIBLY CAN. WHAT THEY DON'T WANT IS THE REST OF THE WORLD TO FIND OUT THE TRUTH BEHIND THE BRUTALITY AND HORROR OF THE GENOCIDE THAT THEY'VE ENACTED. ON APRIL 29, 1945, AMERICAN TROOPS REACH AND LIBERATE DACHAU.

Holland

DACHAU ITSELF HAS BEEN RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DEATHS OF AROUND 32,000 PEOPLE, BUT ELSEWHERE, CONCENTRATION CAMPS AND DEATH CAMPS, YOU'RE TALKING MILLIONS, MILLIONS OF PEOPLE THAT HAVE BEEN KILLED BY BEING HERDED INTO THESE APPALLING PLACES AND THEN SYSTEMATICALLY EITHER WORKED TO DEATH OR BRUTALLY EXECUTED.

Narrator

THE SCALE OF HIMMLER'S AMBITION IS EXPOSED. OVER 11 MILLION PEOPLE HAVE LOST THEIR LIVES AT THE HANDS OF THE SS. ON APRIL 30, ADOLF HITLER COMMITS SUICIDE... BUT HIMMLER FANTASISES ABOUT ESCAPE.

Holland

HITLER HAS COMMITTED SUICIDE. IT'S ALL OVER. GERMANY LIES IN RUINS, BUT HIMMLER HAS ABSOLUTELY NO INTENTION OF THROWING IN THE TOWEL. HE'S ON THE RUN. HE REALIZES THAT HIS LIFE IN NAZI GERMANY IS ALL OVER, BUT HE'S HOPING TO GO INTO HIDING. HE'S NOW ONE OF THE MOST WANTED MEN IN THE ENTIRE WORLD, AND THE ALLIES ARE AFTER HIM, AND THEY'RE DETERMINED TO GET HIM.

Narrator

HIMMLER DOES ALL HE CAN TO DESTROY THE EVIDENCE OF HIS SS ATROCITIES, BUT HIS CRIMES ARE TOO EXTENSIVE. ON MAY 23, 1945, HE'S CAPTURED BY THE BRITISH. DURING A MEDICAL EXAMINATION, HE BITES A CYANIDE CAPSULE, COMMITTING SUICIDE. THE SS DIES WITH HIM. AT THE END OF THE WAR, THIS HUGE STRUCTURE THAT HAS JUST BEEN SUCH A CRUCIAL PART OF THE THIRD REICH THAT HAS INFILTRATED ALMOST EVERY ASPECT OF THE NAZI WAR MACHINE SUDDENLY IMPLODES. ALMOST OVERNIGHT, THE SS--THIS HUGE STRUCTURE, THIS HUGE ORGANIZATION-- IS JUST NO MORE. THOUSANDS OF THE SS ARE TRIED ACROSS EUROPE. AT DACHAU, A SPECIAL U.S. MILITARY TRIBUNAL ALONE SENTENCES 420 TO DEATH.

Man

SENTENCES YOU TO BE HANGED BY THE NECK UNTIL DEAD.

Narrator

THE SS IS DECLARED A CRIMINAL ORGANIZATION. IT WAS MEANT TO BE AN EXAMPLE OF THE PURITY AND MIGHT OF THE THIRD REICH BUT, IN REALITY, BECAME THE TWISTED SYMBOL FOR THE EVIL THAT WAS HITLER'S GERMANY. THE HORRIFIC LEGACY OF HIMMLER'S SS STANDS AS A MONUMENT TO THE HORRORS OF NAZISM. NAZI MEGA WEAPONS, SEASON TWO IS AVAILABLE ON DVD. TO ORDER,

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