Hitler's Bodyguard [DVD]

As the passing of time fades the passions, and ever more previously secret documentation comes to light; the genuine reality of 20'th Century historical events become clearer. That process is obviously now at work with the sometimes awesome events of World War Two, as the sheer detail revealed by this highly informative and largely impartial series shows. Compiled largely from recently uncovered official SS/Nazi records by the same Nugus/Martin team that gave us 'Churchill's Bodyguard', I found this series by far the more interesting of the two. Detective Thompson of Scotland Yard had his problems protecting Churchill, but they were as nothing compared to the task facing Adolf Hitler's black uniformed SS 'Begleit Commando' guards, who really did have to earn their wages!

The slaughters of WWI and the fatally flawed Treaty of Versailles had achieved nothing except to destablise Europe; which was left riven by deep and enduring class, racial and ideological hatreds. During this chronically unstable era Communist, Capitalist and Nazi ideologues more reminisent of Al Capone style gangsters than political leaders, fought each other, at first on the streets, then in the halls of power and finally on the battlefields of WWII; each faction determined to ensure their vision of the future became our reality. Germany was the pivot of this titanic struggle, with Bolshevik/Marxists attempting to gain control of her industrial power and then use it to ferment worldwide revolution; and with Hitler's Nazi's attempting to prevent or hijack that revolution.

This 10 hour, 4 disc documentary series explains this momentous time from the viewpoint of men like Bruno Gesche, Ulric Graf and Julius Schreck as devotedly loyal and ruthlessly tough, these 'Killer Angels' protected their Fuhrer from more than forty assassination attempts, in the twenty years during which he strode the world stage. The sheer detail on previously obsure events such as the 'Beerhall Putche' and 'the Night of the Long Knives' is amazing; and having watched this series I can now clearly understand why Hitler mistrusted his Generals. They tried to kill him more often than either the Jews, the British or the Communists did!

I was also impressed with the sections detailing the security features designed into Hitler's cars, train and aircraft. The series is made in thirteen episodes listed below:-

1. How Hitler's Bodyguard Worked.
2. Early Attempts On Hitler's Life.
3. Kill The New Chancellor!
4. Night Of The Long Knives.
5. Jewish And Emigre Attempts To Kill Hitler.
6. Kill Hitler Before War Starts.
7. Bombs and Paranoia.
8. Dangerous Car Journeys.
9. Flights into Danger.
10.Hitler's Dangerous Train Journeys.
11.Attempts To Kill Hitler A The Wolf's Lair.
12.Nearly Assassinated At The Berghof.
13.Poison Gas Plot In The Bunker.

To conclude, this is a highly detailed, top quality and entertaining series. I recommend it wholeheartedly to anyone with an interest in the events/personalities of the inter-war years and/or World War Two, and expect it to become a classic on it's subject. Hitler's Bodyguard [DVD].

I learned a lot about Hitler, his bodyguard and some of his henchmen despite the fact that I've read a few books and seen a few other documentaries about the Nazi era. I also agree with one reviewer who enthused about the images in the series. Like another reviewer, however, I feel that there is a bit too much duplication of content and I became a bit bored towards the end of the series because of this. Also, I found it a bit irritating that the narrator constantly tells the viewer that Hitler was a bad guy. Surely, for most mature viewers who are interested in the topic, it is a given that Hitler was a bad guy and so it is surely unnecessary to keep making that so explicit by referring to him as 'evil genius', etc. Another slight gripe: I found the narrator's voice impersonations of Hitler and some other Nazis to be a bit comical. One surely does not watch such a program for light relief. Finally, although I agree that in order to put the viewer fully in the picture it was necessary to refer to events during the Nazi period that were not directly related to the topic of the series, i.e. Hitler's bodyguard, I felt that some of the episodes went a little too much off topic. It was as if the makers of the series wanted to pad it out in order to fulfill a quota of viewing hours. Still, on the whole, as someone interested in the Nazis and the Second World War, I think that buying this DVD was ten quid well spent.

Hitler's Bodyguard [DVD]

A useful documentary series, but with significant duplication of content between the 13 episodes. As with most TV series there is a standard introduction to each episode, and each episode is designed to be meaningful if that would be the only episode you were able to watch. Each episode deals with a separate aspect of the threats to Hitler's life during the rise and fall of the Nazi party in Germany, and the challenges faced by his bodyguard to defeat them. The episodes do not follow in chronological order. A significant amount of material is relevant to more than one subject, hence the duplication between episodes. This can become tedious if viewing several episodes together. As with any historical documentary what you get out of it depends on how much you know before you start. It is best used together with other source material. On balance this series earns its place on the shelf of source material.