The Pact Three Men

During the Second World War, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia were occupied on three separate occasions – twice by the Soviet Union and once by Nazi Germany. The signing of the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact of 1939 allowed the Soviets to dominate the Baltic states without fear of German reprisals, causing many in the German-Baltic populations to flee to Poland.

During the Second World War, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia were occupied on three separate occasions – twice by the Soviet Union and once by Nazi Germany. The signing of the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact of 1939 allowed the Soviets to dominate the Baltic states without fear of German reprisals, causing many in the German-Baltic populations to flee to Poland.

Created, ordered and led by Hitler, the state apparatus of Nazi Germany rigorously controlled all aspects of life in the Third Reich from cradle to grave. To maintain his iron grip on the German people through the ministries of his dictatorial government, Hitler surrounded himself with a small clique of fanatical, devoted acolytes. Men such as Heinrich Himmler, the much-feared chief of the Waffen-SS and organiser of the Holocaust, and Hermann Goering, the bombastic head of the Luftwaffe, wielded enormous power and held the fate of millions in their corrupt hands.

This series looks at the many people who chose to collaborate with the Nazis. It is at times, uncomfortable viewing, but it's also totally absorbing too. It’s a simple question. “How could they have done it?” How could anyone have collaborated with the Nazis? And yet so many did. From Pierre Laval in France to Chaim Rumkowski, who ran the Jewish administration in the Lodz ghetto, from Quisling to the IRA, from the 1600 Belgians who served in the SS to the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem - all worked with the Nazis.