For educational purposes
This episode looks at the slide to war under Hitler, and the way he tried to force his European neighbours into armed conflict.
He started by ignoring the Treaty of Versailles and rearming his country, realising at the time that Britain and France would do nothing to penalise him.
He moved on to re-occupy the Rhineland, annex Austria to make it part of a bigger Germany, and then lay claim to the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia.
All of these provocative gestures met with no resistance, so he proceeded to invade Czechoslovakia before turning his focus on Poland - but this time the allies had had time to rearm.
This episode looks at the slide to war under Hitler, and the way he tried to force his European neighbours into armed conflict.
He started by ignoring the Treaty of Versailles and rearming his country, realising at the time that Britain and France would do nothing to penalise him.
He moved on to re-occupy the Rhineland, annex Austria to make it part of a bigger Germany, and then lay claim to the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia.
All of these provocative gestures met with no resistance, so he proceeded to invade Czechoslovakia before turning his focus on Poland - but this time the allies had had time to rearm.
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LearningTranscript
00:30He was a gambler. He always wanted to play everything or nothing.
00:48When Göring once said, shortly before the outbreak of the war,
00:53we want to stop playing Vabank, he said, we have always played Vabank.
00:59And I will always play Vabank.
01:05If you look at the pictures today, so to speak, in Celtic, it is actually grotesque.
01:11Absolutely grotesque.
01:13What he called bravery was actually the Vabank psychosis of a madman.
01:23There are people who take on the greatest dangers in order to feel the thrill of adventure.
01:32He certainly was not a realist.
01:43Germany must come and say, we want peace.
01:49But we refuse this unceasing oppression.
01:53And we will not accept the deportation.
01:57By the middle of the 1930s, Hitler was at the height of his power.
02:16Power he had extorted.
02:18He blackmailed his party and became its Führer.
02:21He deceived the President of the Reich and became his Chancellor.
02:25He seduced the Germans and became their tyrant.
02:34From then on, he also carried his deceit and blackmail abroad,
02:38in the guise of an angel of peace who appeared to be pursuing just one aim,
02:43the removal of the oppressive provisions of the Treaty of Versailles.
02:56You must stand before the world today, with me and Hitler,
03:03and you must solemnly declare that we want nothing but peace.
03:08We want nothing but peace.
03:10We want nothing but to be able to offer ourselves to our tasks.
03:14But we also want nothing but our equal right.
03:18And let us not take away our honor from anyone.
03:26The German People
03:32The German people are no longer the people of dishonor, shame,
03:41self-destruction, indifference and infidelity.
03:49My Lord, the German people have become strong again,
03:55strong in their spirit, strong in their will,
03:59strong in their dignity, strong in their faith.
04:04O sacrifice, Lord!
04:06Let us now saw our fight for our freedom
04:13and thus for our German people and homeland.
04:20The Abnormality
04:23I think Hitler was not quite normal.
04:27He was an abnormal person.
04:30And his abnormality was certainly something extraordinary.
04:41But abnormality seemed normal to the Germans at this stage.
04:46In March 1935, Hitler broke the Treaty of Versailles.
04:51He introduced universal conscription
04:54and began building up an army of 36 divisions, the Wehrmacht,
04:58a navy strong enough to engage in battle,
05:01and a powerful air force, the Luftwaffe.
05:05Foreign nations contented themselves with lame protests.
05:11And Hitler took a break.
05:14In the spring of 1936, Hitler chanced his next coup.
05:22He had 30,000 men march into the demilitarized zone of the Rhineland,
05:26a blatant breach of the treaty.
05:29The Western powers looked on passively.
05:37They saw in Hitler a champion against Bolshevik Russia
05:41and so threw away their best chance to use military force
05:44to stop the German angel of peace.
05:57And perhaps the greatest bank play of his was the Rhineland occupation.
06:01That was the moment when the West...
06:04It would have been a star hour for the West.
06:08They couldn't have crashed it. It had nothing.
06:11The Rhineland reoccupation of our troops
06:14was the hardest and bravest task and work of my life.
06:25The only foreign minister, Neurath, said at the time,
06:31Mr. Hitler, you can risk that. Nothing will happen.
06:38And I heard that a lot, as Hitler said.
06:42All generals had full pants.
06:45Only the clever Swabian Neurath told me at the time,
06:49Mr. Hitler, you can risk that.
06:55On his way back from his triumphal journey
06:58to the reoccupied Rhineland, the Fuhrer told his inner circle
07:01he was relieved at the indecisiveness of the other side.
07:06Am I glad? My Lord, I'm glad it went so smoothly.
07:10Fortune certainly smiles on the brave man.
07:13God will help him.
07:16He had Wagner's Parsifal Overture put on the gramophone and reflected,
07:20I am constructing my religion from Parsifal
07:23without any submissive posturing.
07:26Only when one takes on the mantle of hero is it possible to serve God.
07:56As early as 1924, when he wrote Mein Kampf,
08:00Hitler had described his intentions precisely.
08:04The main point of his policy was not the removal of the Versailles Treaty,
08:08which he had preached tirelessly since 1933.
08:13He wanted more.
08:15Violent conquest for a greater Germany
08:18and a new world order.
08:21He wanted more.
08:23Violent conquest for a greater Germany
08:26and, as he described it, the total removal of the Jews.
08:31Obviously, only a few people had read and understood Hitler's book.
08:40His biographer, Konrad Haydn, said this of him at the time.
08:45Where Hitler makes plans, war is always in sight.
08:49Can this man exist at all without smashing up the world?
08:54He had a brilliant side.
08:56There is no doubt about it. He was a genius of evil.
09:16Intoxicated by his success in the West,
09:19Hitler now set course for his world.
09:22He now set course for his real goal,
09:24the conquest of Lebensraum in the East.
09:31To solve the German question,
09:33there can only be the path of violence,
09:36he announced at a secret conference.
09:38His generals voiced no real protest
09:41and he set his sights on his nearest neighbour,
09:44Austria.
09:52However, the way to Austria could be opened up
09:54only through an understanding with fascist Italy.
09:57Hitler curried favour with the Duce,
10:00the extrovert, Benito Mussolini.
10:15The Duce was a strange figure.
10:18His posture, his gestures,
10:20part champion of the people, part play actor,
10:23Mussolini's speeches were pure theatre.
10:50The will to power, the hunger for greatness,
10:54the irascibility, the boastful cynicism and theatricality.
11:00There were undoubtedly certain similarities
11:02with the German dictator.
11:04Gradually, the two began to develop a liking for one another
11:08with a small residue of mistrust.
11:12But Hitler supported his new partner's war in Abyssinia
11:16and in return received the reward he had longed for.
11:19Mussolini withdrew his protective hand from Austria.
11:28Hitler increased pressure on the Austrian Federal Chancellor,
11:31Schuschnigg, who was searching desperately for allies.
11:35Yet neither England nor France was willing to help him.
11:40He had to fight alone.
11:50...and the unwavering conviction of his responsible leadership
11:54that our Austria must remain Austria.
12:09In Vienna, the National Socialists were not yet represented in Parliament,
12:13but they were already ruling the streets.
12:16Despite all the fighting words,
12:18the net around Schuschnigg was closing.
12:25Hitler waiting for Schuschnigg on the Obersalzberg.
12:28In the picturesque idyll of the mountains,
12:31a less idyllic conversation takes place.
12:34Hitler, an Austrian, blackmails the Austrian Schuschnigg.
12:39He demands free reign for the National Socialists and,
12:43above all, the appointment of Nazi leader Seyss-Inkwart
12:47as Austrian Minister of the Interior.
12:59Hitler gives Schuschnigg seven days in which to accede to his demands.
13:04Surely you don't think you can hold me up for even half an hour?
13:07Who knows?
13:08Maybe I'll suddenly turn up overnight in Vienna like a spring storm.
13:12That'll be an experience for you, he screams at Schuschnigg and throws him out.
13:23Austria's Nazis mobilised.
13:26Now they could come out in the open.
13:29Schuschnigg, however, rejected Hitler's demands
13:31and attempted to organise a plebiscite.
13:36He wanted to prove that he, not Hitler,
13:39had the majority of Austrians behind him.
13:44However, huge pressure from Berlin forced him to drop his plans.
13:50Urged on by Goering, Hitler threatened military action against Austria.
14:05The Austrian Nazis were now unstoppable.
14:08Now or never.
14:10They wanted power.
14:13In Vienna, they occupied the Federal Chancellor's office.
14:17Under pressure from both outside and within,
14:20Schuschnigg finally gave up and announced his resignation.
14:27The new Austrian Chancellor was Hitler's dream candidate, Seyss-Inkwart.
14:39Then came Hitler himself.
14:41On March 12th, 1938, he crossed the border at his birthplace, Braunau.
14:49As yet, he had no fixed plan for the future shape of Austria.
14:53On March 12th, 1938, he crossed the border at his birthplace, Braunau.
14:59As yet, he had no fixed plan for the future shape of Austria.
15:24After a four-hour triumphal procession in an open car,
15:28he reached Linz, his old hometown.
15:54My dear home, the German Reich!
16:00And in Linz, there was an indescribable celebration.
16:04And now the strange thing happened.
16:06Hitler, who did not want to make the connection at the time,
16:10he just wanted to enforce a National Socialist government in Austria.
16:16He said, the news from England and France are all positive.
16:21Basically, nothing is threatened from there.
16:24The Russians can't do anything.
16:26Why shouldn't I do everything right away?
16:28And then he took everything with him and we drove to Vienna.
16:35The focus of all his youthful dreams.
16:38The city he hated, which had humiliated him.
16:43The scenes on the Heldenplatz gave Hitler, once a homeless youth,
16:47a very personal satisfaction.
16:51German men and women.
16:56In a few days, within the German people's community...
17:02...an upheaval took place, which we see today in its scope.
17:08But its significance will only be fully appreciated by later generations.
17:16I proclaim a new mission for this country.
17:21It corresponds to the commandment of the German settlers...
17:25...from all corners of the old Reich.
17:28The oldest East March of the German people...
17:31...shall be the youngest baller of the German nation...
17:35...and thus of the German people.
17:37Austria! Austria! Austria!
17:41We know that Austria was called Germany after the defeat of the First World War.
17:48There have always been very pan-Germanist aspirations.
17:52But there was, of course, a strong opposition.
17:57And I would say 50-50.
18:00But we must not forget that the Nazis had already seized power...
18:03...before Hitler marched in.
18:05The first people who later emigrated to the KZ...
18:08...were still arrested before the borders were opened.
18:18There is no doubt that Austria in its entirety...
18:21...wished for Hitler.
18:24But he understood the screaming minority as a majority to be deceived.
18:29Austria! Austria! Austria!
18:33As Fuehrer and Chancellor of the German nation and the Reich...
18:38...I now declare before the German history...
18:41...the entry of my homeland into the German Reich.
18:45Austria! Austria! Austria!
18:49At that time, like many others, I was in the hundreds of thousands.
18:52I was thrilled. I had tears of joy in my eyes.
18:56I imagined a new, glorious era.
18:59The peace treaties, which made a small country of 7 million...
19:04...from a large Austrian Reich, were smashed to the ground.
19:08We have achieved everything.
19:10I was infinitely happy, as rarely in my life.
19:13And so it was with the great journalists at the time.
19:16And Mr. Renner too, the later Chancellor.
19:19We were all...
19:21The Cardinal of Vienna, Inezer, voluntarily signed...
19:26...all the bishops for the annexation.
19:30They wrote in the declaration, voluntarily and without pressure...
19:35...we are for it.
19:37It was a feeling of happiness at the time...
19:42...and a brotherhood of various parties in Austria...
19:48...with the exception of the Schuschnigg-Dolfuß parties...
19:52...but that was at best 20%.
19:54But I have to admit, my parents were on this side.
20:19How much of this rejoicing, shouting and tears was engineered?
20:25And how much was spontaneous passion?
20:31Hitler was cheered for achieving more than Bismarck.
20:35The slogans appealed to a vague longing for unity.
20:40Reason had been switched off.
20:44The Blackmailer was playing the role of his lifetime.
20:50The person to bring German history full circle.
20:57Although the Western powers were clearly uneasy about the Anschluss of Austria...
21:02...even now they did not consider military action.
21:06Hitler exploited their indecisiveness.
21:14Hitler arranged a plebiscite in Germany and Austria.
21:18He wanted the people to say yes to his Anschluss.
21:23Even though 99% support was a foregone conclusion...
21:27...he campaigned heavily.
21:34But this movement and today's Germany...
21:39...they are both my work.
21:45I have won this Reich so dearly.
21:50And then someone wonders...
21:55...if my longing for life...
22:00...this most expensive Reich...
22:03...was my own homeland.
22:07This country and this people...
22:11...does not come to the Reich...
22:14...in a humiliating role.
22:18I myself...
22:21...lead you.
22:37Hitler had an easy time of it.
22:41This encouraged him to make a new move.
22:45He grasped at the Sudetenland.
22:50Konrad Hennlein, the Fuhrer of the Sudeten German party...
22:54...played the Trojan horse in Hitler's army.
22:57He was a great hero.
23:00He was a great hero.
23:04He was a great hero.
23:08He was a great hero.
23:12He was a great hero.
23:16Konrad Hennlein, the Fuhrer of the Sudeten German party...
23:19...played the Trojan horse in Hitler's plan.
23:22He demanded wide-ranging autonomy from the Prague government...
23:25...for the three million Germans in the Sudeten region of Czechoslovakia...
23:29...who felt disadvantaged.
23:33Under the slogan, Heim ins Reich...
23:36...home to the Reich...
23:38...mass demonstrations were organized.
23:41On Hitler's instructions...
23:43...on Hitler's demands.
23:47The propaganda celebrated Hitler as the savior of the Sudeten Germans.
23:52But for him, they were only a means to an end...
23:56...for one reason.
23:59Hitler's mission
24:09Well, that was his mission...
24:13...in which he had committed himself.
24:18The mission...
24:21...repeatedly comes up in his speeches...
24:25...the concept of foresight.
24:29He was convinced that he was sent by foresight...
24:34...to redeem the German people.
24:37To give the German people...
24:41...or to conquer with the German people...
24:45...what was due to the German people.
24:50And from that, the whole huge program of expansion...
24:56...with the help of war.
25:04Hitler brought the crisis to a head.
25:07It is my irrevocable resolve...
25:10...to wipe out Czechoslovakia in the foreseeable future...
25:13...using military action, he announced.
25:17And set the date for October the 1st, 1938.
25:33Eduard Beneš, president of Czechoslovakia...
25:36...was pushed by the western powers to make repeated concessions.
25:41The British and French pursued a policy of appeasement...
25:44...instead of fighting.
25:51They wanted peace because they were playing for time.
25:56Time which Hitler no longer believed he had.
26:12Mr. Beneš...
26:14...you have no right to give gifts to the German people.
26:18You have the right...
26:20...to claim your own life, just like any other people.
26:24The Germans in Czechoslovakia...
26:26...are neither defenseless nor are they to be left behind.
26:31THE GENOCIDE OF GERMANY
26:40I don't want to encourage anyone to read my book...
26:43...because it is so poorly written...
26:45...that someone who has a sense for German language, literature and grammar...
26:49...will suffer if he reads this book.
26:52I am convinced he dictated it without correcting it.
26:57But if you read it, it is so clear...
27:01...that the man would lead the country into war.
27:05One way or another.
27:10He was certainly a hussar.
27:13But his tactics...
27:15...and we saw this in the tactics of the Sudeten German negotiators...
27:20...in the crisis before September 1938...
27:25...his tactics were...
27:28...to make very small, inconspicuous demands.
27:33And if the demands were to be fulfilled...
27:37...they would increase immediately.
27:40That was the tactic of the Sudeten German party...
27:44...in the negotiations with the Czechoslovakian government...
27:47...in the years 1937-38.
27:50Whenever the Czechoslovakian government said...
27:54...yes, we accept this...
27:56...the Sudeten Germans increased their demands immediately.
28:00With bigger demands...
28:03...in order to prevent an agreement from coming into being.
28:07That was the directive given to them by Berlin.
28:15After Hitler's speech, there was violent unrest in the Sudetenland.
28:20The Czech government declared a state of emergency.
28:27Then, just as war appeared inevitable...
28:30...events took an astonishing turn.
28:39After a journey of almost seven hours...
28:41...he arrived at the Obersalzberg.
28:45Hitler demanded the Sudetenland...
28:47...on the basis of the right of peoples to self-determination.
28:52300 Sudeten Germans have been killed, he claimed.
28:56This must be put right immediately.
29:08Chamberlain wanted to consult his cabinet in London.
29:13No sooner had he left...
29:17...than Hitler pushed the crisis further.
29:20Under Heinlein's leadership...
29:22...he established a Sudeten German volunteer corps...
29:25...which occupied the towns of Eger and Asch.
29:31The press unleashed a ferocious campaign of horror stories.
29:42It was always the same system.
29:46He brought the crisis on Saturday...
29:48...because he assumed the English were playing golf.
29:51And he had absolutely nothing new.
29:55Back then, in the Sudeten crisis...
29:57...we had a joke in the Foreign Office.
30:00It said, for God's sake, here it comes again...
30:03...the 80-year-old German mother-in-law...
30:08...that with a burning wooden leg...
30:12...under the dehumanized piston...
30:15...the soldier Tesker swims through the border river.
30:38Yet he did not suspect that the Western powers...
30:41...were already willing to bow to his pressure.
30:44The wolf was to have his lamb handed to him on a plate.
30:48Czechoslovakia.
31:07As soon as the West accepted...
31:10...mass demonstrations erupted.
31:14I took part in a march...
31:17...against the castle...
31:21...against Haracin...
31:23...with the slogan...
31:25...we want weapons.
31:27We paid for our weapons, we want them.
31:37The following day...
31:39...there was the largest mass rally in Czechoslovakia...
31:44...in front of the Parliament, in front of the Rudolfinum...
31:49...in which it was demanded...
31:52...that the government abdicate, resign...
31:56...and create a new government...
31:58...that is willing to defend the country.
32:02Once again Chamberlain travelled to meet Hitler.
32:06This time at Bad Godesberg on the Rhine.
32:09European peace is what I am aiming at...
32:14...and I hope that this journey may open the way to get it.
32:20He brought Hitler an unexpected gift.
32:23The consent of Great Britain, France and Czechoslovakia...
32:27...for the Sudetenland to be surrendered to Germany.
32:34To Chamberlain's great astonishment...
32:36...Hitler would not accept the offer...
32:38...but increased his demands still further.
32:41He now suddenly demanded the territories immediately...
32:44...and without any consultation with Czechoslovakia.
32:52Prague rejected Hitler's demands...
32:55...and mobilised a million men.
33:00The British cabinet did not seem to want to bend to the pressure.
33:06France ordered mobilisation...
33:08...and assured Czechoslovakia of its military support.
33:18Now Hitler played the blackmailer once again.
33:25He gave Czech President Benes a final deadline...
33:29...two days in which to accede to his demands.
33:37This is the last problem that must be solved.
33:43It is the last territorial demand that I have to make in Europe.
33:48But it is the demand of which I abdicate...
33:51...and which I have to fulfill.
33:55I have finally made an offer.
33:59It is nothing but the realisation of what he himself has promised.
34:05He now has peace or war in his hands.
34:09He will either accept this offer...
34:14...and finally give the Germans freedom...
34:17...or we will get this freedom now.
34:21We are determined to vote for Benes.
34:35In fact, Mr Benes had no choice.
34:39Yet Hitler was to discover that the Germans...
34:41...were anything but enthusiastic at the prospect of war.
34:45He did not know that a small but influential group of conspirators...
34:49...was planning his overthrow...
34:51...should he give the command to attack Czechoslovakia.
34:57And then came the news which gave Europe renewed hope.
35:01Peace conference in Munich.
35:03Through the intervention of Mussolini, Hitler had relented.
35:08Alongside the two dictators, two democrats...
35:11...Chamberlain and Daladier also took part.
35:15All four were cheered.
35:20Neville Chamberlain was beginning to enjoy flying.
35:24This was his third flight to Germany in only three weeks.
35:30I was a little boy.
35:33I used to repeat...
35:36...if at first you don't succeed...
35:39...try, try, try again.
35:43That's what I'm doing.
35:47When I come back...
35:49...I hope I may be able to say...
35:53...as Hotspur says in Henry IV...
35:56...out of this metal danger...
36:00...we pluck this flower safely.
36:07THE CONFERENCE
36:19The conference on September 29, 1938 began on a friendly note.
36:26The Germans were hoping for peace...
36:28...but their Fuhrer was threatening war.
36:31Either the conference will achieve rapid success...
36:34...or the solution will be brought about by arms...
36:37...he declared categorically.
36:45The delegates from Czechoslovakia had to wait in the corridor.
36:49Hitler refused to let them participate.
37:00Negotiations took place behind their backs...
37:03...using a text supposedly written by Mussolini...
37:06...but in fact drafted by Goering and others the evening before.
37:11At 1.30 in the morning the fate of Czechoslovakia was sealed...
37:15...by the so-called Munich Agreement.
37:19There was to be occupation of the Sudetenland in four stages.
37:23Britain and France were to guarantee the new borders of the shrunken state.
37:30The plan coup d'etat against Hitler did not take place.
37:34It had been the conspirators' last chance before the war.
37:38The Germans were relieved.
37:59That's how it was.
38:30Chamberlain believed he had deflected Hitler from war...
38:33...and won time to rearm.
38:36The settlement of the Czechoslovakian problem...
38:40...which has now been achieved...
38:43...is in my view only the prelude...
38:48...to a larger settlement in which all Europe may find peace.
38:59It was a terrible, terrible betrayal...
39:05...by our allies...
39:08...who had assured us since the beginning of Czechoslovakia...
39:15...that they would guarantee our independence, freedom and security.
39:21They betrayed us.
39:30Hitler, too, was given a triumphal reception in Berlin.
39:35But he was being cheered for something he did not want at all.
39:39Peace.
39:48At heart, he was discontent.
39:51For him, Munich had been a defeat.
39:56Events had not gone as he had intended.
39:59He had wanted war at once and had been thwarted.
40:07He was losing time and he felt it keenly.
40:15War was what he wanted. The sooner the better.
40:19On October 3, 1938, German troops occupied the Sudetenland.
40:30A few hours later, Hitler crossed the border...
40:34...and the German troops were forced to retreat.
40:38The German troops were forced to retreat...
40:42...and the German troops were forced to retreat.
40:47A few hours later, Hitler crossed the border...
40:50...shortly before it disappeared.
40:58After Austria, another war of flowers had been won.
41:03The Sudeten Germans acclaimed him fervently, like a saviour.
41:07The feelings which his arrival aroused were not simply political.
41:38I don't know, they became almost powerless before seeing him.
41:51I have also thrown flowers at Hitler for the thousands of people...
41:55...and cried tears of joy.
41:58The fascination that emanated from Hitler...
42:01...and which all those who were close to him...
42:04...confirmed, is perhaps not to be explained in words.
42:08It is the crucial thing that this certain something...
42:12...cannot be grasped by reason.
42:15He had a radiance which, to a certain extent, overpowered us.
42:23We did not only feel personally addressed...
42:26...but also believed that he was more than just a politician.
42:31That he was a person who, beyond politics...
42:35...certainly had a mission to fulfill.
43:01Poland and Hungary, too, snatched their share of the booty.
43:05Pieces of the dismembered country.
43:13President Benes resigned six days after the Munich Agreement...
43:17...and went into exile in England.
43:31Emil Hacher, a former judge...
43:33...became the new president of what was left of the country.
43:37A head of state subject to recall at any time...
43:40...Hacher was fighting a losing battle.
43:52Self-seeking and blindness...
43:54...weakness and treachery...
43:57...wrote the history of that autumn of 1938.
44:08Hitler's impatience claimed new victims.
44:11He had definitely decided to cross the Rubicon.
44:15What did treaties matter?
44:18Now he had to break up the so-called...
44:20...rump of the Czech state.
44:28Czechoslovakia
44:33Hitler made use of the fascist Josef Tiso...
44:36...to precipitate the fall of Czechoslovakia.
44:39He coerced Tiso into proclaiming Slovakia's independence...
44:42...from the Czech state...
44:44...with the threat that if he did not...
44:46...Germany would permit Hungary to take over Slovakia.
44:57The blackmail worked...
44:59...and Slovakia declared its independence.
45:02It was March the 14th, 1939.
45:09Czech President Hacher travelled that same evening...
45:12...to see Hitler in Berlin.
45:14Worn down and suffering from a heart condition...
45:17...he had to wait in the Reich Chancellery for hours...
45:20...before Hitler would see him.
45:28At six o'clock in the morning...
45:30...the Wehrmacht would invade the Czech state from all sides...
45:33...declared Hitler.
45:35Hacher was asked to consent to the invasion...
45:37...and to stop the people from resisting.
45:44When Goering threatened to bomb Prague...
45:46...Hacher fainted.
45:48But Hitler's personal physician helped him to his feet.
45:53Shortly before four in the morning...
45:55...he signed his surrender...
45:57...and officially asked Hitler for help.
46:01While Hacher, the victim of blackmail, left Berlin dejected...
46:05...Hitler, the blackmailer, rushed euphorically...
46:08...over to his secretaries.
46:11Girls, now each of you give me a big kiss.
46:13Hacher has signed.
46:15This is the greatest day of my life.
46:17I will go down as the greatest German in history.
46:26At six in the morning...
46:28...German troops crossed the border...
46:30...reaching Prague, the Czech capital, three hours later.
46:34This was no longer a war of flowers.
46:39It was a terrible tragedy.
46:47It was a very cold day...
46:51...with rain and snow on the 15th of March.
46:59We woke up and the radio informed us...
47:03...that we would be occupied.
47:05In a few hours...
47:08...the first motorbikes with sidecars...
47:14...arrived in Prague...
47:17...as a warning to the occupation.
47:20It was terrible.
47:22People on the streets...
47:25...encountered these troops...
47:29...with screams...
47:33...with hopelessness, with terrible screams...
47:37...and tears.
47:41Adults, men, were crying.
47:44It was terrible.
47:50The day after the war
47:55That very day...
47:57...Hitler entered the city...
47:59...and spent the night in Hradčany castle.
48:02Neither England nor France mobilized.
48:05I knew it, he said euphorically.
48:08In two weeks no one will even mention it.
48:15In 1933...
48:18...I was in the insurance office...
48:22...with my German colleagues.
48:25I told them...
48:27...Hitler is the scapegoat of the German people.
48:32Hitler is the one who brings the war.
48:35You will see...
48:37...Hitler is the one who will start a great war.
48:41They asked me if I was right.
48:44Hitler solved the problem of the unemployed in Germany.
48:51But at what price?
49:14Now, no more doves of peace were flying.
49:17In the autumn, there would be war.
49:44THE END