Europe in the 1920s and 1930s – a continent licks its wounds after the devastation of WWI. In this fertile breeding ground for dissent, authoritarian regimes are on the rise.
The Abyss: Rise And Fall Of The Nazis takes a fresh look at the Third Reich from a global and current perspective. It tells us how the Nazis managed to conquer Germany and then half of Europe within a few years. How could that be, with the horrors of World War I still so fresh? Why did it take so long before they were stopped?
A combination of previously unpublished archive material, historic sources and an international team of experts paint a new picture of Hitler’s regime. The series unpicks the complex sequence of events that boosted a new regime, allowing violence and brutality to unfold on an unbelievable scale.
Series One, Episode Two: Deceit and Delusion (1923-1928)
In 1923, the NSDAP had grown to 55,000 members, and Hitler was portraying himself as a powerful man in the right-wing extremist movement. But what is he up to? The journalist Leo Lania risks something unbelievable. He takes advantage of Hitler’s admiration for the Italian fascist leader Benito Mussolini, poses as a party supporter of the Italian, and spends several days with the Nazis in October 1923.
The Abyss: Rise And Fall Of The Nazis – New Episodes/From Sunday, 19 February at 5.30pm on SBS and SBS on Demand (10 Parts)