He held absolute power over the Soviet Union for 29 years. Stalin succeeded his hero Lenin in 1924. From then on, he induced widespread famines to enforce farm collectives and eliminated perceived enemies through massive purges. In 1953, as Joseph Stalin lay dying, doctors were afraid to even examine him. This harsh leader of the Soviet Union was known to turn on even his closest advisors, sending them to prison to be tried as enemies of the state. Stalin came to power by joining a group of revolutionaries that in 1917 overthrew the Russian Czar, or emperor. They created a Communist government, in which the state controlled all parts of peoples lives. The first leader of the Soviet Union, as it was now called, was Vladimir Lenin. Stalin became one of his aides. When Lenin died in 1924, Stalin took control and ruled the Soviet Union with an iron hand for almost thirty years. In the end an unbelievable twenty million people died from starvation or executions under Stalins rule. This documentary explores the life of Joseph Stalin from his childhood in Georgia to the ruthless terror that left only those too weak to challenge his iron rule.
Die Sendung zeichnet das Leben von Albert Einstein nach. In der Sendung werden nicht nur die physikalischen Errungenschaften des wohl prominentesten Physikers, sondern auch der Mensch Albert Einstein und seine ganz persönliche Seite beleuchtet. Einsteins Theorie sorgte für eine Sensation in der Welt der Forschung und verschaffte ihm die lang ersehnte und verdiente internationale Anerkennung. 1921 wurde Einstein mit dem Physiknobelpreis ausgezeichnet. Erst viel später erkannte man, dass die Relativitätstheorie die wohl noch größere Leistung Einsteins war.