Using exclusively archival footage, Erwin Leiser traces the rise and collapse of the Third Reich, from Adolf Hitler’s early years to the devastation of Europe and his suicide in 1945. The film draws heavily on material produced and preserved by the Nazi propaganda apparatus to confront the mechanisms, imagery, and consequences of totalitarian power.
Editing
Leiser weaponizes Nazi footage against itself.
Direction
No narrator lecturing — images indict themselves.
Director
Erwin Leiser
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Released during the Eichmann trial, this film became part of West Germany's forced public reckoning with immediate history.
Leiser discovered that much 'spontaneous' Nazi crowd footage was actually reshot multiple times for maximum visual impact — fascism's first influencer culture.
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