History Channel - The Gestapo Hitlers Secret Police (HC) (2006) Part 3 The Sword is Shattered

Very few state organisations in history have instilled fear into citizens like the Gestapo, Adolf Hitler's secret police. During the darkest days of the Third Reich, the most dreaded sound was a knock at the door after dark. Everyone who lived under Nazi rule lived in fear of the secretive agents known colloquially as “V-Men”. Hitler called them his “deadliest weapon”, and without them the Fuhrer's ambition could never have been realised. Until now, their full story has not been told. Within six years of its inception, the Gestapo had grown from a regional secret police force into a crucial executive arm of the Nazi Party. By the outbreak of World War II, it had evolved into a wide-reaching organisation whose success in crushing resistance to the state was unparalleled. As the war in Europe raged, the Gestapo extended their operations to include areas under German control, leading to a new era of terror which culminated in Hitler's 'Final Solution'. This fascinating documentary from History explores the inner workings of the Gestapo, from its origins to its rise to prominence as Hitler's main instrument of fear – a sinister organisation that held the power of life and death over millions.

Part 3 The Sword is Shattered

By 1944 it was clear that the war was lost as the Reich shrank back to the borders of Germany. But there was plenty for the Gestapo to do. Even within the dwindling resources of a doomed regime, the Gestapo was determined to keep its grip on the people. They persecuted resistance members, the merely indifferent, “decadent” jazz musicians, and couples of mixed race. As with any corrupt system, they lost touch with reality, and its violence spiraled out of control even while in its own death throes. When the Stauffenberg plot to assassinate Hitler failed, the Gestapo was given a free hand. But amidst the bloodshed, many Gestapo officers prepared themselves for a future in a defeated Germany. Many were able to slip back into normal society at war's end and many prospered. Some were brought to justice Eichmann in Israel in the 1960s, others in Germany, France, and elsewhere–some pursued into the 1970s. The Gestapo is long gone–but its crimes have not been forgotten.

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