The home movies Hitler hoped you'd never see.
The documentary focuses on the German Wehrmacht’s invasion of Poland and the Soviet Union during World War II and its consequences for the German military. On June 22, 1941, “Operation Barbarossa” marked the start of a war of annihilation that claimed millions of lives. Hitler and his generals planned the destruction of the Soviet Union and its population. The Wehrmacht supported SS Einsatzgruppen in mass shootings and committed numerous war crimes. The anticipated quick victory failed to materialize due to a lack of reserves and alternative strategies, leading to the operation’s failure. Spiegel-TV author Nina Adler presents these events using previously unseen amateur footage from German soldiers and rare archival material from Russia. Expert interviews, including with military historian Rolf-Dieter Müller and authors Sönke Neitzel and Harald Welzer, round out the documentary and shed light on a war that forever changed the image of the Germans.
Editing
Amateur footage collides with expert testimony—no escape from accountability.
Production
Rare Russian archives finally speak after decades of silence.
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Spiegel-TV spent years negotiating Russian archive access; much of this footage was literally classified until the 2000s.
The 'clean Wehrmacht' myth—carefully cultivated by German veterans and Cold War allies—collapses here through their own vacation snapshots.
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