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Hartheim: the Nazi Castle of Horror
52:12
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Hartheim: the Nazi Castle of Horror
In 1939, as the world stood on the brink of World War II, Hartheim Castle, Austria, was at the centre of a turning point of history. It had been a centre for those with physical or mental disabilities. But from 1939 to 1944, it acted as a pilot scheme for the ‘final solution.’ Over the years, hundreds of buses from all over Germany and Austria arrived in the castle courtyard. The buses were full of patients with Down’s Syndrome, schizophrenia, or with mental disabilities. Hartheim was presented as a clinic, yet none of these patients emerged alive. The SS used Hartheim to test their methods of mass murder. Hartheim was top secret, its true purpose hidden from the public. The victim’s families weren’t told how their loved ones died. A team of workers, including doctors, administrators and bus drivers, all signed confidentiality agreements and participated in the cover up, including forging the death certificates. In 1941, under pressure from the Catholic church, Hitler put an end to the euthanasia programme for fear of losing popular support. But Hartheim remained a place of mass extermination. Now it was prisoners of war, those deemed too old or too frail for hard labour, who were targeted. More than 30,000 people were sent from Mauthausen concentration camp to Hartheim, to be killed. Many of the workers from Hartheim went to work in concentration camps during the war. They took their expertise to Belzec, Sobibor and Treblinka, where nearly two million Jews perished. Hartheim: the top secret Nazi school for mass murder. Director: Aurélie Marquès & Grégory Aujol
Published Apr 3, 2023
The Führer's Final Downfall: Hitler's Bad Decisions and the Consequences of World War II
51:18
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The Führer's Final Downfall: Hitler's Bad Decisions and the Consequences of World War II
By 1942, the consequences of Hitler’s bad military decisions were becoming apparent. In response to his declaration of war, the Americans had entered the conflict and were making advances in North Africa. During Operation Barbarossa, the previous year, Germany has already lost one million men. By October 1942, with another Russian winter approaching, his generals pushed for a strategic retreat. But Hitler issued strict orders for his troops to remain in Stalingrad, effectively sealing their fate. Convinced that an Allied landing would take place in the Pas-de-Calais, Hitler sent a maximum number of troops there. But when the invasion began in June 1944, targeting the less defended Normandy coast, Hitler was asleep and had given strict orders not to be disturbed. Only he can give the order to redeploy the panzer divisions to face the Allied troops. By midday the next day, thinking the allies are trying to manipulate him, Hitler still hasn’t taken any action. During this time, the Allies seized the beaches, one by one. By December 1944, now increasingly dependent on drugs, Hitler ordered a pointless attack in the Ardennes. In doing so, he uses up the last of his troops, weakening the Eastern front and opened up Germany’s doors to the Allied forces. It’s a suicidal maneuver but once again, nobody contradicts the Führer. During the Battle of the Ardennes, the Russians advanced 500km. Attacked on all fronts and with little chance of victory, the pressure grew to surrender. Instead, eaten away by insanity, the Führer took his people hostage and brings them with him in his final downfall. Director: Phillipe Tourancheau
Published Apr 1, 2023