How did Hitler usurp power in Germany? Early in 1933, it was far from certain that the Nazis would remain in power for long and would be supported by the people. It was not Hitler’s charisma, but cunning, violence, and propaganda that paved the way to national power.

The second part of this series examines the exploitation of the Reichstag fire in 1933. With the aid of newly discovered sources, Hitler’s methods of abolishing democracy are being re-examined and retraced.

Written by Florian Huber, Peter Hartl and Klaus–Peter Wolf, Peter Adler and Alexander Berkel Directed by Nils Willbrandt (scen.), Florian Huber (doc.) Director of photography Dirk Heuer Edited by Jochen C. Müller Costume design Malgorzata Zacharska Set design Marek Warszewski Production manager Michael C. Wagner, Jacek Gaczkowski Line Producer Moritz Hansen Producer Thomas Schuhbauer Editorial Manager Stefan Mausbach Management Guido Knopp Executive producer Ulrich Lenze Locations Poland Air date 17.03.2009 Produced for ZDF » back