Arte - The SS A Barbaric State (2019)

Also known by the acronym SS, the Schutzstaffel organization was a privileged instrument within the German state. Created in April 1925 to ensure the close protection of Adolf Hitler, it became over the years a real state within a state, organizing the extermination of the Jews of Europe, but also assuming political functions, repressive, ideological and even military with the creation of the Waffen-SS. This documentary looks back on its origins and its workings. Nuremberg. In 1945 the main war criminals were tried in this city where Hitler gathered fanatical crowds. The Allies judge Nazi leaders and officials of the Third Reich. Among the defendants - the Fuhrer's closest collaborators. Defendant number 27 is not a person. It is a whole organization the SS. A state within a state to which the entire police of the Nazi Reich is subordinate and which has its own army. The judges find it guilty. Guilty of being a criminal organization - with 900,000 members. In 1929 Heinrich Himmler was appointed Reichsfuhrer SS. In the following years he transformed the Schutzstaffel into a notorious state within the state. When he took over there were 280 SS members. Two years later there are already over 15,000. War crimes, human breeding programs, racial theory, extermination camps - the SS always plays a leading role. How does this monstrous organization of Heinrich Himmler work? How are its members trained, selected and recruited? What is the logic behind their murderous behavior? The film presents impressive archive material. It traces the origin and development of the SS, a terrible elite of horror, and lets well-known historians have their say.

Written and Directed by Mathieu Schwartz; Tournez S'il Vous Plait Production with RMC Decouverte for ARTE France

Arte - The SS A Barbaric State (2019)

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