Spiegel TV

In early June 1944, 1.5 million Allied soldiers stand ready in southern England to embark on the largest amphibious assault in military history: Operation Overlord. For tens of thousands of young U.S. soldiers, this war against the Nazis seems almost like an adventure. Very few, if at all, have any combat experience. The sixth day of June 1944 is "D-Day", "Decision Day". American troops land on the coast of Normandy to bring the Third Reich to its knees. Platoon after platoon go ashore without any cover. Only now does the horror awaiting them begin to dawn. From the dunes above them, the Germans open fire on the GIs from bunkers and foxholes.

or decades, the film reels were thought to be lost. They showed interviews carried out in 1948 by the bestselling American author Michael Musmanno with witnesses to the final days of Adolf Hitler. He wrote a book about it, Ten Days to Die (1950). But the film images disappeared and seemed lost for decades. They were only found in 2013 Now, for the first time, exclusive excerpts can be seen in a new SPIEGEL TV documentary. The interviewees included Hitler’s secretary Traudl Junge, his driver Erich Kempka, the one-time youth leader Artur Axmann and a sister of Eva Braun.

Adolf Hitler was appointed Reich chancellor on January 30, 1933. Once they had seized power in Germany, the Nazis did not relinquish it until their demise on May 8, 1945. The Third Reich lasted for 12 years, 3 months, and 9 days. It began with great hopes and unprecedented jubilation and ended after a world war in which more than 50 million people were killed, Germany was destroyed and the European Jews murdered.

Nazi Germany still holds many secrets, but one of them is about to be uncovered by this fascinating documentary. Deep beneath the earth's surface, the Third Reich built a labyrinth of tunnels to hide and build many of their most notorious weapons. This is a rare look into yet another dark aspect of the Nazi war machine. It was one of the most massive construction projects ever attempted by humankind. Late in World War II, the Nazis launched a bold plan to shelter armaments factories from the constant hail of allied bombs. All important manufacturing facilities would be re-located in underground labyrinths of protective caves.

In February 1945 American troops had begun to conquer the Third Reich from the west – town by town, village by village. Embedded with the troops were two dozen cameramen from the U.S. Signal Corps. They documented the action and the fall of Nazi Germany on 35 mm celluloid.

Over 1000 days, almost a quarter of his rule over Germany, Adolf Hitler spent on Obersalzberg, his Alpine retreat near Berchtesgaden. In the restricted area not far from the border with Austria, which was sealed off by massive security forces, the Fuhrer did not stay alone to relax, it was here that he received those in power from the Third Reich and Europe. In the midst of the picturesque mountains, he decided on war and annihilation. At the end of April 1945, Royal Air Force bombers reduced the facility to rubble and ashes within a few minutes.