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| The Nazis - A Warning from History | 
 enlarge | Directors: Laurence Rees, Tilman Remme
Actors: Samuel West, Fritz Arlt, Rudi Bamber, Gerda Bernhardt, Uwe Bitzel
Studio: BBC Warner
Category: DVD
List Price: $34.98
Buy New: $25.47
You Save: $9.51 (27%)
Buy New/Used from $21.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  (21 reviews)
Sales Rank: 4416
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dvd-video, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), Spanish (Original Language), Italian (Original Language), English (Subtitled)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD
Running Time: 350 minutes
Number Of Items: 2
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: WARDE2242D
ISBN: 1419809032
UPC: 794051224224
EAN: 9781419809033
ASIN: B00097DY66
Release Date: July 19, 2005
Theatrical Release Date: February 8, 1998
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Description
How could a political party as fundamentally evil and overtly racist as the Nazis come to power? This remains one of the most enigmatic questions of the last century. Acclaimed historian Laurence Rees examines what led a cultured nation at the heart of Europe to commit the atrocities it did. In so doing, he exposes popular myths and encourages understanding of the real forces that led to one of the darkest chapters in modern history. Was it simply the hypnotic power of Hitler's rhetoric? Did the Gestapo really impose themselves by terror on an unwilling population? Through interviews with witnesses and perpetrators, along with archive film and records, this six-part series unveils a more chilling reality.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 16 more reviews...
 Very good, engrossing, engaging - But misses very important points. December 6, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Preface: Others have covered very well the many positive qualities of this series, so I'm going to focus on just a few points for the sake of brevity.
The Nazis - A Warning from History" sadly suffers from the same faults of most documentaries about the Nazis. It simply looks at the conditions that were prevalent in Germany, acknowledges the inequity of the treaty of Versailles, but fails to give all important perspective. Anti-semitism was not especially prevalent in Germany. France expelled the Jews hundreds of years prior and at the turn of the century had the Dryfus affair which exposed rampant french Antisemitism. Anti-Jew riots were still a annual occurrence around Europe. Germany only had such a large Jewish population because it was comparatively a very tolerant country!
More importantly, the documentary totally fails to appreciate how the allies very directly enabled the rise of the Nazi party. Towards the end of the war allied propaganda logically targeted German groups they thought less interested in fighting: Jews, Communists, Intelligentsia, Trade Unionists and Socialists.
The propaganda heavily played upon Wilson's 14 points. It was produced and spread by French, American and British agents. Groups in Germany which agitated for peace did so in good faith with the belief that these promises of a lenient peace would be upheld. They did so believing it was best for the country they truly loved and indeed fought for: Germany.
Of course, we know what happened. In America's case its forgivable, as they actually intended honor these promises. But France and England had no such intent, and brutally exploited the good will of these minority groups. From the beginning, they openly planned to betray these promises and extract huge concessions, knowing that once an armistice was signed the German army would not be able to resume fighting.
In Germany the theory that minority groups were guilty of betraying Germany was widespread, and indeed seemed justified. Today it is referred to as the "Dolchstosslegende," literally "stab in the back" myth. It is derided as being racist, this corner of history is therefore rarely mentioned. Germans desperately want to avoid anything that hints of racism, and the former "allied countries" hardly want to place yet more blame on themselves.
I feel this is a true shame, because this is one of the most important warnings the Nazis have to give and very few appreciate it. Indeed, during the the gulf war we encouraged ethnic agitation by the Kurds, with no real intent of actually giving Iraq a favorable peace treaty of any sort - they paid for our carelessness.
Furthermore, I think the utility of focusing on what happened under Nazi dictatorship is limited with regards to future prevention. History has shown us again and again that once a violent dictatorship establishes itself it is nearly always too late. Milgram's experiments showed that Americans will commit atrocities, we're humans just like Germans. The critical lessons are what lead to such dictatorships. Once a dictatorship such as the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany or Fascist Japan establishes itself, overthrow from within is nearly impossible.
There are many, many redeeming points of this series and I still highly recommend it. I also understand that most people do not see this same short coming - I can't blame them. You can hardly complain that something is not there when you don't even know you should be looking for it.
A Timely Warning October 12, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This excellent series should be required viewing for anyone with the slightest concern with what's going on in our country today and what's going to become of us in the future.
Step by step, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party's rise to power is meticulously documented, along with how and why one of the most liberal and tolerant of all the European nations in history voted him in as Chancellor of Germany.
The descriptions of Hitler's operating methods and his relationships with his subordinates are especially chilling. He surrounded himself with sycophants whose advancement was based on their personal loyalty to him and nothing else. Then he encouraged them to compete with one another to win his favor.
The series clearly demonstrates Hitler's personal laziness, his disdain for detail work and the day to day administrative governmental grind, which he left entirely to his subordinates.
When it came to new policy, he would suddenly pluck an idea out of the air and throw it at one of his underlings, and he often assigned the same project to two of them at once.
The only actual work he ever did was on his public speeches and appearances, and, as a flamboyant demagogue/showman, he was definitely in a class by himself.
Not only did he put on entertaining, colorful spectactles at his enormous rallies, he would deliberately aim his inflammatory rhetoric at his audience's lowest common denominator; which was their rage against the Treaty of Versailles after Germany's WWI defeat and its resulting economic woes. Then, when he had his audience thoroughly worked up, he would offer them what they most wanted to hear: a magic bullet.
Just this past week, I watched on TV as a prominent political candidate attempted to whip up their audience with one hatemongering statement after another at the top of their lungs. Afterwards, while I watched them joyously reaching for one outstretched hand after another in the adoring crowd, I suddenly realized that the only thing lacking to make the whole event complete was a Swastika.
While this is not an easy series to watch, I still thoroughly recommend it to anyone with a concern about some of the things we're seeing happen today, if only so that we won't be tempted make the same political mistakes.
Eye opening documentary September 30, 2008
Another fine production from the BBC. I saw this on Netflix instant play and liked it so much I had to buy it. It's chock full of understanding the many facets of the war as well as the origins.
Never before had I seen such a deep delve into the origins of what occurred in Germany pre-1940 to precipitate the events of WWII.
It is indeed a warning from history and we should not forget lest we repeat the mistakes of the day.
Manuel Vidal Noguera Documental que hay que ver y volver a ver. July 6, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Este documental de la BBC da elementos de comprension al fenomeno nazi, desde su surgimiento hasta el fin de la guerra. Debe verse como una prevencion tomando nota de las manifestaciones sociales y politicas, pero sobre todo no olvidar que sucedio para que jamas vuelva a ocurrir. Deja otra leccion para pensar: la responsabilidad compartida, social y politica, no decir NO es decir SI, apoyar y colaborar.
Debe ser tenida en cuenta frente a los movimientos neonazis y extremistas de toda indole.
Recopila gran cantidad de testimonios, en anos rcientes, de personas que vivieron esas atrocidades contra la humanidad en cabeza del pueblo judio, de los gitanos, de los polacos, rumanos alemanes o hungaros, como victimas, victimarios o testigos y se apoya en fotografias, escritos, peliculas y grabaciones.
Es para tener en cuenta en asignaturas de ciencia sociales, etica y politica.
Debiera traducirse a varios idiomas la subtitulacion, excelente que tiene pues recoge todos los dialogos en impecable ingles y otros idiomas.
Ten Minutes is missing! March 18, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I first watched this series of one hour programs when it was on the History Channel. It so moved me that I couldn't wait to buy it when it came out on DVD. But, upon viewing the American DVD I noticed a few mminutes was missing from the show I saw on History Channel. Particularly, about ten minutes dealing with a group of children being locked into a school building, and the building set afire.
I see that the American DVD runs 290 minutes...while the Netherlands DVD runs 300 minutes. Could it be the missing footage is in the Holland version???
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