As World War II drags on into another bitter winter the Allies become desperate to end the conflict. Winston Churchill turns to his formidable bomber force to break the deadlock. The population of an eastern German city is caught in a devastating firestorm and harnessed by the Nazis; the controversy turns the Allies on themselves.
This powerful documentary examines the origins, ideology and evolution of one of the most feared organizations of Nazi Germany. It explores how the SS (Schutzstaffel) transformed from a small protective unit into a vast and ruthless machine that played a central role in the Holocaust. Through detailed analysis and historical evidence, it reveals the distorted beliefs, calculated strategies and systematic brutality that defined its actions, offering a chilling insight into how ordinary structures were turned into instruments of terror on an unprecedented scale. In the first three episodes, the focus turns to the rise of the SS and the individuals who helped shape its power. It traces how recruits were selected and why the organization appealed to certain men, uncovering the mindset behind their commitment. The story delves into the figure of Heinrich Himmler, an unlikely leader whose vision and ambition drove the expansion of the SS, as well as Reinhard Heydrich, whose cold and methodical approach made him one of the key architects of the Holocaust. Together, these episodes reveal how leadership, ideology and personal ambition combined to fuel one of history’s darkest forces.
From the first shots fired in Poland to the dawn of the atomic age, this gripping documentary revisits the most devastating conflict in modern history with the scale, urgency, and human focus it demands. Through decisive battles, world-changing leaders such as Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Josef Stalin rare wartime perspectives, and the immense suffering of soldiers and civilians, it shows how total war reshaped nations, destroyed millions of lives, and forced humanity into a new and terrifying era. The first three episodes plunge directly into the war’s explosive beginnings. In September 1939, Germany invades Poland after a secret pact between Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin clears the path for aggression, setting Europe on fire once again. As Nazi forces crush the Netherlands and Belgium and drive west, Churchill prepares Britain for an air assault while Roosevelt races to turn American industry into a weapon of survival. The story then moves to Operation Barbarossa, Hitler’s colossal surprise invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, the largest and most costly land offensive ever launched, where ambition, brutality, and resistance collide on an unimaginable scale.
The population of an eastern German city is caught in a devastating firestorm and harnessed by the Nazis; the controversy turns the Allies on themselves.