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00:00Previously, on the last days of World War II, in Europe, the Allies began the process of rebuilding a continent shattered by war.
00:12In the Pacific, the battle for Okinawa reached a bloody stalemate along the fiercely defended Shuri Line.
00:19Off the United States' eastern seaboard, shocking evidence of a bomb-making alliance between Japan and Germany was discovered.
00:30This week, US forces on Okinawa capture several Japanese strongholds, but an error by US General Simon Buckner proves costly.
00:42A massive wave of B-29 bombers torches the Japanese capital, damaging the Imperial Palace.
00:50And in Europe, the last vestiges of a Nazi concentration camp are set ablaze, as Allied troops round up several high-ranking Nazi war criminals.
01:00May 20th, Okinawa.
01:06May the 20th, Okinawa.
01:27After landing on the island's beaches seven weeks ago, US forces have made a painstaking advance,
01:32forcing the Japanese to retreat to a series of heavily fortified positions on the southern end of the island, the Shuri Line.
01:43US troops finally manage to capture several of the Japanese strongholds.
01:49The 77th Infantry Division manages to secure Chocolate Drop Hill.
01:55The 1st Marine Division captures the Wana Ridge in a bloody two-pronged assault.
02:01The 6th Marine Division begins mopping up Japanese resistance in the fortified caves on Horseshoe and Half Moon Hills.
02:09And to the east, the US 7th and 96th Divisions continue to battle for the town of Yonabaru.
02:14But this week, the rain seems as relentless as the resistance of the Japanese defenders.
02:27For days, the torrential downpour has added to the misery of the infantry.
02:31The battlefield is transformed into a quagmire.
02:41There are a lot of rains on Okinawa, and that creates all kinds of mud.
02:46It turns these ridges and ravines into muddy chutes, and that's going to slow down advancing American infantry.
02:53It's going to inhibit the use of tanks.
02:55Tanks and half-tracks struggle through the morass.
03:00Dirt roads have been washed away, and the fields flooded.
03:04Men struggle through the mud, taking supplies of food and ammunition to the front line.
03:09It's going to make it very difficult for the Americans to supply their troops when they're in close contact with the enemy.
03:17They'll have to resort, in many cases, to airdrops to make sure their men are getting enough ammunition and other supplies to continue the fight.
03:25American Avenger torpedo bombers fly in low, parachuting supplies to the exhausted infantry.
03:35To date, the U.S. has suffered 12,000 casualties in the fierce battle to crack the Shuri Line.
03:41The strain of constant combat is beginning to tell.
03:44There are occasional stories of doctors being held at gunpoint and being forced by the troops to treat this person.
03:51It gives you some indication of the level to which these, um, the camaraderie among the soldiers,
03:57and the sense that they so desperately wanted to see their friend survive.
04:02The outlook is much more dire for the Japanese.
04:06By the end of May, Ushijima's effective forces have been whittled down.
04:10He's lost about 60,000 men. He has about 11,000 infantry and about 20,000 more support troops, artillery, etc., left.
04:21But the Japanese continue to fight on with extraordinary dedication and sacrifice.
04:27They face massive firepower from the better-equipped American infantry.
04:35U.S. troops in World War II used a variety of small arms,
04:39including the Browning M1918 automatic rifle, the M1 Garand rifle, and the M1 carbine.
04:48The smallest of the three, the M1 carbine was a semi-automatic weapon,
04:53designed to offer more firepower than a pistol, but without the weight of a rifle.
04:57So the carbine was looked at as a replacement for the pistol, or at least an augmentation of the pistol,
05:06so that you gave the M1 carbine to people such as officers,
05:12whose job is not to fight, but to direct the fight.
05:16The initial reaction to the M1 carbine was mixed.
05:21Its lightweight design made it initially popular,
05:23but early versions had poor sights and were not very effective beyond 200 yards.
05:28The weapon is underpowered.
05:33Now, that doesn't mean much in the Pacific in World War II,
05:36because the Japanese aren't wearing a lot of clothes.
05:40But if we had invaded Japan, and that thing had lasted into the winter,
05:47we may well have run into a problem with it,
05:50because the bullet would not penetrate the uniform.
05:52The M1 carbine was designed by David Williams,
05:55who had the idea while serving a prison term for second-degree murder.
06:00On his release, Williams was given a job by the Winchester Firearms Company,
06:04where he finished the design.
06:08By August 1945, more than 6 million carbines were manufactured,
06:13making it one of the most produced small arms of the war.
06:18May 20th, Okinawa.
06:22The Japanese are fighting a losing battle,
06:25but Ushijima's men fight on grimly.
06:31They have little hope of survival,
06:33and no intention of surrendering.
06:37The usual Japanese army approach was one of attack,
06:40with very little consideration for defence.
06:42This was not a situation in which they were going to be able to prevent the Americans
06:46from succeeding in their invasion.
06:48What they could do is make this as costly for the Americans as possible.
06:52The Japanese neither offer nor expect mercy, only death.
06:57We didn't take prisoners.
07:00On Guadalcanal, a number of Japanese would come up purporting to surrender
07:05and would fall down with grenades under their arms and blow up people.
07:10Any number of tricks the Japanese had, we took no prisoners.
07:18May 21st, Okinawa.
07:21The US 96th Infantry Division clears Conical Hill,
07:25the Shuri Line's eastern stronghold,
07:27as the 7th Infantry Division attacks towards Yonobaru.
07:30Facing no alternative, General Ushijima decides to abandon the Shuri Line.
07:37He will execute a skilful withdrawal from the main Shuri Line
07:43to his last defensive position along the southern tip of Okinawa,
07:50and that withdrawal will catch the Americans by surprise.
07:54He will retreat to a final defensive line on the Cayenne Peninsula.
08:01The stronghold is stocked with what remains of Ushijima's supplies.
08:06There, the Japanese general will make his last stand.
08:09May 22nd, Ushijima orders the small rearguard to remain on the Shuri Line
08:16to delay the US advance.
08:19Under the cover of clouds and rain,
08:22the rest of his army will make a phased withdrawal.
08:26May 23rd, as the bulk of Ushijima's forces steal away to the Cayenne Peninsula,
08:32the 6th Marine Division pushes into the ruins of Naha, Okinawa's capital.
08:36The city, once home to over 60,000 people,
08:41is now deserted and has been reduced to rubble.
08:47May 24th.
08:49At night, Japanese troops make a suicidal attack
08:52on the American-held airfield at Yontan.
08:55About 10 soldiers destroy or damage more than 30 American planes
08:59and ignite two 600-drum fuel dumps before being wiped out.
09:06The airfield is operational again by 8am the following morning.
09:17May 25th.
09:19As General Ushijima's troops fall back to the southern tip of the island,
09:23their movements are spotted by US observation aircraft.
09:26They are thought, however, to be civilian refugees.
09:29General Buckner, commander of US forces on Okinawa,
09:36does not order an attack.
09:38He believes Ushijima is preparing to fight to the last in the Shuri line.
09:42The Japanese are staging raids along the front,
09:45leading Buckner and his staff to believe a counterattack may even be imminent.
09:49It is days before Buckner realises his mistake.
09:56He has been wrong-footed by the skilful and stealthy withdrawal
09:59of the Japanese 32nd Army.
10:02US troops still face pockets of suicidal resistance along the Shuri line.
10:07Once that is overcome,
10:08they will advance rapidly to the island's southern tip,
10:11where the last battle will be fought.
10:12Meanwhile, American B-29s are over Tokyo.
10:20May 24th.
10:22Tokyo.
10:23More than 500 B-29s drop 4,000 tonnes of incendiary bombs.
10:27This is the largest single raid on Japan in the war.
10:3717 B-29s do not return.
10:42May 26th.
10:47Another massive raid by B-29 strikes the Japanese capital.
10:51More than 450 bombers pound the city for the second time in 48 hours.
11:01Parts of the Imperial Palace are damaged.
11:04Emperor Hirohito and his family are unharmed
11:10as the Japanese capital enters the front line of the war.
11:14Marunuki, Tokyo's business district,
11:17supposedly fire and earthquake-proof, is reduced to ashes.
11:2126 American bombers are shot down,
11:24the largest losses on any B-29 raid.
11:27Yokohama and Osaka will be next.
11:39Japanese troops on the Philippines
11:41are losing their grip on the islands.
11:43Troops under the command of U.S. General Douglas MacArthur
11:46are on the offensive.
11:49May 21st.
11:50The Philippines.
11:51Japanese troops are desperately trying to hold the Wawa Dam
11:54on the Marikina River.
11:58Less than a week ago,
12:00the U.S. managed to secure the Ipo Dam near Manila.
12:03Now, U.S. Army engineers bulldoze new roads towards the dam
12:07and armoured units move in.
12:10The tanks bombard Japanese positions
12:12with a seemingly endless hail of shells.
12:15Simultaneously, U.S. troops on the island of Mindanao
12:18are advancing steadily northwards.
12:20May 21st.
12:23The U.S. 31st Division captures the town of Malay-Balay
12:27and seizes control of an important Japanese supply base.
12:33MacArthur, the commander-in-chief of Allied forces
12:36in the southwest Pacific,
12:37now sees an opportunity to defeat his nemesis,
12:40Japanese General Tomoyuki Yamashita.
12:44Yamashita arrived to take charge in the Philippines
12:47in October 1944.
12:52Following earlier victories over the British
12:55in Malaya and Singapore,
12:56Yamashita became known as the Tiger of Malaya.
13:00But by 1944,
13:01when he had heard he was headed for the Philippines,
13:04Yamashita reportedly said,
13:06it's my turn to die.
13:08Through the skilful deployment
13:10of a dwindling and demoralised army,
13:13he managed to slow the U.S. advance
13:14through the islands.
13:15He was enough of a realist
13:19to know that he was not going to win.
13:23He believed that if they could make it costly enough
13:28for the Americans by resisting,
13:31it would be possible
13:32that the United States might relent
13:37and it's request for demand, rather,
13:40for unconditional surrender.
13:43Yamashita would eventually come out of the mountains
13:45in September 1945 and surrender,
13:48an unorthodox move for a high-ranking Japanese officer.
13:51The idea that they would be willing
13:53to sacrifice themselves to the army,
13:56to the emperor,
13:57is one that was part of their training.
13:59The idea of surrender,
14:01the idea of allowing yourself to become a prisoner,
14:03was actually edited out
14:05of the field manuals early on in the 1930s.
14:08So this wasn't even something
14:09you were trained to think about.
14:12General Yamashita would be found guilty
14:14of war crimes,
14:15many of which he had never known about,
14:17and hanged in 1946.
14:24As Allied troops in the Far East make advances
14:27in the face of bitter Japanese resistance,
14:30halfway around the world,
14:31the guns have fallen silent.
14:33The war in Europe has come to an end,
14:36and the Allies are helping
14:37to rebuild the shattered continent.
14:41Like much of Europe,
14:43the German capital has been ravaged by the war.
14:47It was the most advanced,
14:49sophisticated country in Europe in the 1920s.
14:52Priceless architecture,
14:53priceless culture,
14:55most of it destroyed.
14:56It would have been absolutely shocking
14:58to see what you found there.
15:00They didn't actually manage
15:02to bury most of the bodies until 1946.
15:05It was a terrible time
15:06to be a German in 1945.
15:11Thousands of German civilians are starving,
15:15and countless refugees are on the move.
15:18Many who have survived the horrors
15:20of Nazi concentration camps return home,
15:23often to find someone else living there.
15:26They were afraid
15:27that we might claim our homes back,
15:30and they ran back to Germany,
15:33at which point the Americans
15:35created these DP camps,
15:37displaced persons camps,
15:40where whatever that shelter was,
15:43you weren't on the street.
15:45What you have are both new German victims
15:48and old German victims,
15:50that is, victims of the Red Army
15:53and the local populations,
15:54and victims of the German army
15:56and the SS,
15:57who are flooding into Germany
15:59and are filling camps of displaced persons.
16:02And that is a situation
16:03that the Allies have to deal with
16:07just as the war ends.
16:09Many rely on the black market,
16:11where almost any necessity or luxury
16:14is available for the right price.
16:18May the 20th, Berlin.
16:20Dr. Arthur Werner,
16:22a German citizen recently appointed
16:24to the position of Oberbürgermeister,
16:26or Lord Mayor,
16:27works to restore normality to the city.
16:29But most Germans question
16:34whether their lives will ever be normal again.
16:37With their city in ruins,
16:39Berliners must find new ways to survive.
16:44When they came and took over our house,
16:47they locked us all in different cellars.
16:49They took over the main cellar
16:51and starved us.
16:53We couldn't get out.
16:54So finally, after three days,
16:56my aunt, who spoke a bit of Polish,
16:58she pushed me forward
16:59into the cellar full of reveling Russians
17:03and said in Polish,
17:05did they have a little bit of food
17:06for a little girl?
17:09And they produced a good big pot
17:12of which nine people could eat happily.
17:15And it was there and then
17:17that I realised looking pathetic
17:19was the most important thing for me
17:22and for me to survive.
17:25Across Germany,
17:26Allied forces move into their designation
17:28of the United Occupation Zones.
17:31In the British Zone
17:32are the remnants of one of the most notorious
17:34Nazi concentration camps,
17:36Bergen-Belsen.
17:38What remains of the camp
17:39is destroyed once and for all.
17:46May the 21st,
17:48the last remaining buildings
17:49at Bergen-Belsen
17:51are burned to the ground
17:52by the army.
17:53A concentration camp
17:54near Hanover
17:55in northwest Germany
17:56had been liberated
17:57on April the 15th.
17:59the last few years of the camp.
18:00And it was very moving,
18:09very moving, shall we say.
18:13There's nothing really to describe.
18:15The flamethrowers were used
18:17and we just stood there
18:18and there was a lump in one's throat
18:21as we saw it all going up.
18:22It was a marvellous sight.
18:28Bergen-Belsen housed
18:29more than 60,000 inmates
18:31in the most appalling conditions.
18:35Approximately 70,000 people
18:37died in the camp,
18:39including a young Dutch girl
18:40named Anne Frank.
18:41The British army
18:46discovered thousands of corpses
18:48when they reached the camp.
18:52Many of those found alive
18:54were on the brink of death
18:55and passed away
18:56in the days after liberation.
18:59Doctors struggled to cope
19:00with victims of starvation,
19:02disease and exhaustion.
19:06The emaciation was of a degree
19:09which I hoped never to see again.
19:11I can remember quite clearly
19:12not one but many
19:14around whose thighs
19:16I could put my finger and thumb
19:18midway between their knees
19:20and their hips,
19:22which I've never seen since.
19:23They brought in blankets,
19:24they brought in food,
19:26but of course,
19:27one had to be careful.
19:29You can't just feed people
19:30who become shrunk to nothing.
19:33So a lot of people still died
19:36in the camp,
19:37even after liberation.
19:38As they recover,
19:41former prisoners of the Nazis
19:43try to rebuild their lives.
19:45But the nightmare they have endured
19:47will leave its scars.
19:49For 50 years,
19:50I'd never said a word.
19:53I still cannot cry.
19:56Nothing has yet empowered me
19:57and I'm afraid that if I try,
20:01there'll be rivers of tears.
20:02As doctors continue to tend
20:05the survivors of Nazi atrocities,
20:08Allied troops fan out
20:09to search for those responsible.
20:13The occupying forces also want
20:16to uncover Germany's
20:17secret weapons programs.
20:21Hitler's armory of advanced weapons
20:23like the V-1 and V-2 rockets
20:25has made a deep impression
20:27on the Allies.
20:27The British and Americans
20:29want to discover
20:30what other advanced weapons
20:31the Third Reich had been developing.
20:38May the 20th, Austria.
20:41A US reconnaissance unit
20:42searches for weapons
20:43near the former concentration camp
20:45Ebensee.
20:47At its peak,
20:48the camp housed
20:49about 18,000 prisoners,
20:51used as slave labor
20:52to construct underground tunnels
20:54in which Nazi armament works
20:56were to be hidden.
20:57The works were originally planned
21:00as an underground headquarters
21:01for the Luftwaffe
21:02and then as a site
21:03for research and testing
21:05of the Wasserfall,
21:06a radar-guided
21:07anti-aircraft missile.
21:11The Wasserfall,
21:12meaning waterfall,
21:13was a formidable achievement.
21:15Its influence felt for decades
21:17following the Second World War.
21:19The Germans were the first ones
21:21to come up with anti-aircraft missiles.
21:24The Wasserfall was designed
21:26to hit high-flying bombers.
21:27It could reach a top speed
21:29of 1,700 miles an hour
21:31and had a range of 16 miles
21:33from launch point
21:34and a ceiling of 60,000 feet.
21:4025 feet in length,
21:42the Wasserfall carried
21:43a 674-pound warhead,
21:45making it tremendously destructive.
21:48Work on the Wasserfall began
21:49in December 1942,
21:50and the first successful test firing
21:53had taken place in February 1944.
21:58Delighted at the test's success,
22:00the German high command
22:01ordered the development
22:02of the Wasserfall to go ahead.
22:04Plans called for an eventual production rate
22:06of 900 missiles per month.
22:08This system was a way to defend Germany
22:13against the marauders from the air,
22:18the air pirates of the Allies,
22:20bombing German cities.
22:22They would lock a beam of radar
22:24onto the target,
22:26say in this case it would be 17 bombing.
22:28The missile would be fired,
22:30and then the missile would climb up
22:32that beam onto the target
22:35and be guided by that beam
22:38into the target.
22:39But not every launch
22:41was an unqualified success.
22:43The Germans had problems
22:44locking that beam onto
22:45and tracking.
22:47The other problem was
22:49to get the missile
22:51to climb that beam.
22:54If they were given, say,
22:56another five years of development,
22:57they probably would have got it right.
23:00On February the 26th, 1945,
23:03after mixed test results,
23:05the project had been abruptly halted.
23:08The Wasserfall was never going to be ready
23:10in time to save the war.
23:12If it had,
23:12the scale of Allied bomber losses
23:14might have brought an end
23:15to the strategic bombing of Germany.
23:22After the war,
23:23the Wasserfall concept
23:24would be used by the Americans
23:26for their first anti-aircraft missiles.
23:30Coming up,
23:35the Allies scour the wreckage
23:36of Nazi Germany for war criminals.
23:39Several more are apprehended.
23:43Some, however,
23:44knowing they faced the hangman's rope,
23:46managed to evade justice.
23:48There was the crunch of a cyanide file,
23:53and you actually hear it glass in his teeth.
23:55And that was the end of England.
23:59May the 22nd, Germany.
24:02Reinhard Galen,
24:03head of German Army Intelligence
24:04on the Eastern Front,
24:06surrenders to US forces.
24:08He and his staff
24:09hand over staggering amounts
24:10of classified information
24:11to the Allies.
24:13Galen will soon head
24:14to the United States
24:15for debriefing.
24:16For the US,
24:17it's one of the great
24:18intelligence catches of the war.
24:20Galen was a liaison officer
24:27to the Army Commander-in-Chief
24:28in 1940,
24:29before joining the Army General Staff
24:31on the Eastern Front.
24:33His evident ability
24:34soon led to promotion,
24:35to head of military intelligence
24:37in the war on the Eastern Front.
24:38His reports,
24:42known for their clarity
24:43and precision,
24:44initially pleased Hitler.
24:46But it was not long
24:47before his reports
24:48contained news
24:49that Hitler did not want to hear.
24:54By April 9th, 1945,
24:57Hitler's disenchantment
24:58with Galen
24:59finally boiled over.
25:01He was dismissed.
25:04Galen knew the defeat
25:05of Germany was inevitable.
25:06So, with a few trusted companions,
25:09he drove into the Bavarian Alps
25:11and hid microfilm
25:12on which invaluable intelligence
25:14on the Red Army was stored.
25:16When Galen and his staff
25:18surrendered to US forces,
25:20he was able to retrieve
25:21the microfilm
25:21and hand over
25:22an impressive archive
25:24of information.
25:26After the war,
25:27Galen,
25:27with the assistance
25:28of the OSS,
25:29later the CIA,
25:31returned to Germany
25:32and opened
25:32an intelligence operation
25:34called the Galen Organization.
25:35The organization's main task
25:38was to fight a new war,
25:40the Cold War,
25:41and gather intelligence
25:42on Soviet activity
25:43in Eastern Europe.
25:44The true value
25:45of that intelligence,
25:46however,
25:47is still debated today.
25:51Galen retired in 1968
25:52and died in 1979.
25:56May 22nd,
25:58Germany.
25:59Heinrich Himmler,
26:00once Hitler's
26:00most loyal henchman
26:01and head of the Gestapo
26:03and SS,
26:04is captured.
26:07He is taken into custody
26:09by British troops
26:10at a checkpoint
26:10in Bremerwårde,
26:11near Hamburg.
26:13When questioned
26:13by military police,
26:15Himmler,
26:15wearing a black eye patch,
26:17insists that he is
26:18a village policeman
26:19named Heinrich Hitzinger.
26:22But the real Hitzinger
26:23is dead.
26:25Himmler had assumed
26:26his name
26:26and acquired his documents
26:28in an attempt
26:28to slip away undetected.
26:32The suspicious MPs
26:34continue their questioning
26:35and refuse to allow Himmler
26:36to pass through
26:37the checkpoint.
26:39As if knowing
26:40that his bluff
26:40has been called,
26:41he removes the eye patch
26:43and puts on his familiar
26:44full moon eyeglasses.
26:46His features
26:46are recognised instantly.
26:49Himmler is arrested
26:50and whisked away
26:51to British Second Army
26:52headquarters.
26:54May 23rd,
26:55Lunerberg.
26:56Himmler is strip-searched
26:58in preparation
26:58for interrogation.
27:00During his physical examination,
27:02however,
27:02Himmler throws his head back
27:03and collapses
27:04to the ground
27:05in convulsions.
27:06He has bitten
27:07into a concealed vial
27:08of cyanide.
27:10Doctors immediately
27:10try to pump his stomach
27:11and induce vomiting.
27:13But it's too late.
27:1644-year-old Heinrich Himmler,
27:19head of the Nazi terror machine
27:20that had so much blood
27:21on its hands,
27:22is dead
27:23in less than 15 minutes.
27:24There was the crunch
27:27of a cyanide file
27:29or whatever you like
27:30to call it
27:30and you could actually
27:32hear it glass
27:33in his teeth.
27:36And the doctor said,
27:37well,
27:38we'll make him sick.
27:41And we got the whitewash
27:43off the ceiling
27:43into a bucket
27:44with water,
27:45a stirrup pump.
27:47And the doctor said,
27:48no, it's no good.
27:49It's too late.
27:50He's away.
27:51He's gone.
27:51Finished.
27:52And that was the end
27:53of Himmler.
27:55Himmler's body
27:56is removed
27:56and buried
27:57by two British army sergeants
27:59in an unmarked grave
28:00on Lunenberg Heath.
28:03So it will never
28:04become a Nazi shrine.
28:06The exact location
28:07of the grave
28:07will never be divulged.
28:10As Himmler
28:11eludes justice
28:12at the hands
28:12of the Allies,
28:13one of his most
28:14valuable secrets
28:15is revealed.
28:15In the custody
28:20of US occupation forces,
28:21SS General Gottlob
28:23Christian Berger
28:24leads army officers
28:25to a small barn
28:26in St. Johann,
28:27a village a few miles
28:28from Salzburg
28:29in Austria.
28:33There,
28:34he removes
28:35a few floorboards
28:36and digs down
28:37into the loose earth
28:37beneath
28:38to reveal
28:39eight large sacks
28:40and a metal box.
28:42The sacks contain
28:42roughly $1 million
28:43in mixed foreign currencies.
28:46Berger informs
28:47the officers
28:47that he had been
28:48ordered by Himmler
28:49to hide the money.
28:51The SS officer
28:52adds that he knows
28:53the location
28:53of another Nazi cash
28:55that contains
28:56more than 700
28:56solid gold bars.
28:59But it will be
28:59several more weeks
29:00before that stash
29:01is found.
29:02The same day
29:03in Flensburg,
29:04on Germany's
29:05Baltic coast,
29:06members of the
29:07successor government
29:07of the Third Reich
29:08are also arrested
29:09on Eisenhower's orders,
29:11among them
29:11Hitler's successor,
29:12Karl Dönitz.
29:15Grand Admiral
29:16Karl Dönitz's
29:18naval service
29:18began in 1910.
29:20Over the course
29:21of his career,
29:22he had become
29:22one of Hitler's
29:23most trusted commanders.
29:25In 1935,
29:26Dönitz was given
29:27command of the
29:28German submarine arm
29:29after the Versailles
29:30treaty ban
29:31on U-boats
29:31was overturned.
29:35It was Dönitz
29:37that invented
29:37the strategy
29:38of wolf packs
29:39that helped U-boats
29:40to wreak such destruction
29:42on Allied Atlantic
29:43convoys early
29:44in the war.
29:45Approximately
29:4513.5 million tons
29:47of Allied supplies
29:48were lost
29:49whilst Dönitz
29:50was in command.
29:52Following Hitler's
29:53suicide on April
29:5330th 1945,
29:55Dönitz succeeded
29:56him as Germany's
29:57last Führer.
29:58But his tenure
29:59would be short-lived.
30:02Upon taking office,
30:04Dönitz had immediately
30:05dismissed many top Nazis,
30:06including SS-Reichsfuhrer
30:09Heinrich Himmler.
30:10In their place,
30:11he appointed a cabinet,
30:12which, he believed,
30:14would be more acceptable
30:15to the Western Allies.
30:17His attempts
30:17to placate the victors
30:18were futile.
30:22So Dönitz was
30:23the last chancellor
30:25of the great German Reich.
30:27And there's a little
30:27footnote to Dönitz
30:28what kind of person
30:29he was.
30:30Dönitz survived.
30:31He was tried
30:32at Nuremberg
30:33for war crimes
30:33and got 20 years.
30:35And he was in Spandau
30:36along with Speer
30:37and several other,
30:38and Hess and several
30:39other of the top Nazis
30:40who survived.
30:42And when Dönitz
30:43arrived in Spandau,
30:44he was given
30:45cell number seven
30:46and he made
30:47a tremendous fuss.
30:49He was the last
30:50chancellor of the Reich.
30:52He was Hitler's successor
30:53and he should have
30:54had cell number one.
30:59That tells you
31:00something, doesn't it?
31:01Dönitz was very fortunate
31:03not to have been hanged
31:04at Nuremberg
31:05that Dönitz had done
31:07plenty of terrible
31:08things himself
31:08during the course
31:09of the war
31:10and he was indirectly
31:12or directly responsible
31:13for the deaths
31:14of thousands of people
31:15in that bloody period
31:17between the death
31:19of Hitler
31:19and the final belated
31:20signature of
31:22unconditional surrender.
31:24May the 23rd,
31:26Flensburg.
31:27At the orders
31:28of General Eisenhower,
31:29Karl Dönitz
31:30is arrested
31:30by British forces.
31:31Much to his surprise,
31:34Dönitz's provisional
31:35government is dissolved.
31:38He is taken
31:39into Allied custody
31:40aboard the steamship
31:41Patria.
31:42Albert Speer,
31:44Hitler's minister
31:44of armaments,
31:45is also apprehended
31:46at a castle
31:47on the outskirts
31:48of Flensburg.
31:50Allied officers
31:50surprise him
31:51in his bath.
31:52When told he is
31:53under arrest,
31:54music-loving Speer
31:55reportedly says,
31:56a good thing too,
31:57it was just an opera
31:58anyway.
32:03Admiral Hans von Freiderberg,
32:05Dönitz's successor
32:06as commander
32:06of the Navy,
32:07is also arrested.
32:08Before he is
32:09to be taken away,
32:10he asks if he can
32:11use the bathroom.
32:12When he doesn't emerge
32:14after a few minutes,
32:15the door is forced open.
32:17Von Freiderberg
32:18is found slumped
32:19on the floor.
32:22Like Himmler,
32:23he has taken cyanide.
32:2524 hours later,
32:28another Nazi military
32:29commander would also
32:30evade justice.
32:33May the 24th,
32:35Field Marshal
32:36Robert Ritter von Grimm,
32:37captured more than
32:38two weeks ago,
32:39is scheduled to be part
32:40of a Soviet-American
32:41prisoner exchange.
32:44Promoted from general
32:45to Field Marshal
32:46in April by Hitler,
32:48von Grimm had succeeded
32:49Hermann Göring
32:50as head of the Luftwaffe.
32:51But fearing torture
32:52and execution
32:53at the hands of the Russians,
32:55he commits suicide.
32:57Von Grimm's final words
32:58before taking potassium
33:00cyanide are,
33:01I am the head
33:01of the Luftwaffe,
33:03but I have no Luftwaffe.
33:06Alfred Rosenberg,
33:07the Nazi minister
33:08for the Eastern
33:08Occupied Territories,
33:10also falls into the hands
33:11of Allied forces.
33:14After the outbreak
33:15of the war,
33:16Rosenberg created
33:17a task force
33:18charged with looting
33:19art treasures
33:19from the museums
33:20and galleries
33:21of occupied Europe.
33:25In Bavaria,
33:26Julius Streicher
33:26is also arrested.
33:29Streicher was notoriously
33:30depraved and sadistic.
33:33Even amongst the Nazis,
33:34the man who styled himself
33:36Jew-beta number one
33:37was widely despised.
33:39Until 1940,
33:41he had been district leader
33:42of Franconia,
33:43but was sacked
33:43for excessive corruption.
33:46A long-time supporter
33:47of Hitler
33:48and extreme anti-Semite,
33:50Streicher published
33:51Der Stürmer,
33:52a weekly newspaper
33:53devoted to the
33:54annihilation of Jews.
33:57Many of the high-ranking
33:59Nazis taken into custody,
34:01including Hermann Göring,
34:02captured two weeks before,
34:04are held in the
34:04comfortable surroundings
34:05of the Palace Hotel
34:06in Mondorf, Luxemburg.
34:08Although they and other
34:12German leaders
34:13have been rounded up,
34:15some of the most notorious
34:16war criminals
34:17manage to escape.
34:19Among those who slip away
34:20undetected are
34:21Adolf Eichmann,
34:22the ruthless administrator
34:23of the Final Solution,
34:25and the Nazi angel of death,
34:27Dr Josef Mengele,
34:28the man in charge
34:29of medical experiments
34:30at Auschwitz.
34:32Able to disappear
34:33into the chaos
34:33of post-war Germany,
34:35they become two of the world's
34:36most infamous fugitives.
34:38And the Nazi angel
34:38of the United States
34:39May the 23rd, London.
34:42Winston Churchill,
34:43who led his country
34:44through its darkest hour,
34:45resigns as Prime Minister
34:47of Great Britain.
34:48During the war,
34:49party politics
34:50in Great Britain
34:51had been put aside
34:52in favour of a
34:52coalition government
34:53led by Churchill.
34:58But with the war
35:00in Europe now over,
35:01it's the return
35:02of business as usual
35:03in British politics.
35:05Churchill's resignation
35:05brings the wartime
35:07coalition government
35:08to an end.
35:09Four hours later,
35:10King George VI
35:11asked Churchill
35:12to form a new
35:13caretaker government.
35:15Churchill agrees.
35:20But he also needs
35:22the backing
35:22of the electorate.
35:24Churchill must win
35:25at the polls
35:25on July 5th,
35:27Britain's first
35:27general election
35:28for ten years.
35:30Labour and liberal
35:31politicians campaign
35:32vigorously against
35:33the re-election
35:33of Churchill,
35:34the Conservative leader.
35:35the political future
35:37of the man who
35:38inspired millions
35:39to rise up against
35:40the might of Nazi
35:41Germany is uncertain.
35:45As Churchill prepares
35:47for the election,
35:48across the Atlantic,
35:48the war against Japan
35:50is now the top priority.
35:51The US Joint Chiefs of Staff,
35:58headed by Fleet Admiral
35:59William Leahy,
36:00gather in Washington
36:01to discuss strategic options
36:03in the Pacific.
36:05Fighting on Okinawa
36:06remains fierce,
36:07with pockets of stubborn
36:08Japanese resistance.
36:10President Truman and his
36:11administration now have
36:13two options,
36:14a mainland invasion of Japan
36:16and a highly classified
36:18weapon that's been
36:19in development
36:19for the past three years,
36:22the atomic bomb.
36:27May the 25th,
36:29Washington.
36:30The US Joint Chiefs
36:31of Staff set
36:32November the 1st,
36:331945,
36:34as the start date
36:35for an invasion of Japan,
36:37codenamed
36:38Operation Downfall.
36:40The plan calls
36:41for the largest
36:41amphibious operation
36:43in history.
36:44Truman and most people
36:46probably believed
36:47that an invasion
36:48of the Japanese mainland
36:49was inevitable.
36:51The war seemed
36:52far from over
36:53in May 1945.
36:55And even then,
36:56not really knowing
36:58very much about
36:58the atomic bomb,
37:00he may still have thought
37:01that a mainland invasion
37:04was going to be necessary.
37:05Operation Downfall
37:06will be split
37:07into two major landings,
37:09Operation Olympic
37:10followed by
37:10Operation Coronet.
37:12The strategy that's laid out
37:13in Operation Olympic
37:15is to land
37:17at a variety of sites
37:18in Kyushu,
37:19which is the southernmost
37:19island of Japan,
37:21to launch an amphibious assault
37:22not unlike that
37:23that we saw in Okinawa.
37:25And then as necessary
37:26to continue to assault
37:27onto the other islands.
37:29Allied ground forces
37:31would be led
37:31by General Douglas MacArthur.
37:33Olympic entails
37:34the landing of three corps
37:35on southern Kyushu.
37:37The landings
37:37will be made by troops
37:38already in the Pacific.
37:3934 carriers would provide
37:44air support
37:45along with land-based aircraft
37:46from Okinawa.
37:48If Operation Olympic
37:49proves successful,
37:50it will provide
37:51a large base
37:52for naval and air forces
37:53within range
37:54of the Japanese capital
37:55and would eventually
37:56pave the way
37:57for a second mission,
37:58the invasion
37:59of central Honshu
38:00and Tokyo
38:00by March 1946.
38:04Casualty estimates
38:05for American forces
38:06are up to one million.
38:08The numbers
38:09and the costs
38:10that the Americans
38:11are incurring
38:11in Okinawa
38:12are known to Truman
38:14and to the military leaders
38:16and they're able
38:16to approximate
38:17or get some sense
38:18from that
38:19of what the campaign
38:21in the main islands
38:22is going to be like.
38:23There are two and a half
38:24million Japanese troops
38:25in the home islands.
38:27There are 28 million civilians
38:28who are supposedly enrolled
38:30in a voluntary militia.
38:32There are 5,000 kamikaze plane.
38:33There are 5,000 regular aircraft.
38:35There are hundreds
38:37if not thousands
38:38of motorboats
38:39that are loaded
38:40with TNT
38:41and you're expecting
38:42anywhere from
38:43half a million
38:44to a million casualties
38:45if you find
38:47a miracle weapon
38:48that will get
38:49the Japanese
38:49to quit early
38:50and make an invasion
38:51unnecessary.
38:53That's a tremendous
38:54temptation
38:55to use such a weapon
38:57because you think
38:58you're going to be saving
38:59not only American lives
39:01but Japanese lives
39:02as well.
39:03U.S. commanders
39:05are hoping
39:06the scientists
39:06working furiously
39:07on the Manhattan project
39:09will offer another option
39:10to bring the war
39:11to a swift
39:11and decisive conclusion.
39:14But there is still
39:15no guarantee
39:16that this new weapon
39:17will work.
39:18The development
39:21of the atomic bomb
39:22was of course
39:22a top secret concern
39:24so most American
39:25military planners
39:26didn't know it existed
39:27and even those that did
39:29it wasn't certain
39:30if a bomb
39:30was going to be developed
39:31in time
39:33or if there would be
39:34enough bombs
39:34to terrify Japan
39:36and to surrender.
39:37There was no guarantee
39:38the Japanese
39:39were going to quit
39:39because past experience
39:41had shown
39:42that a lot of Japanese
39:43were willing to die
39:44rather than admit defeat.
39:46It will be another
39:47two months
39:47before the bomb
39:48would be tested
39:49in the remote deserts
39:50of New Mexico.
39:51Until then
39:52the pressure continues
39:53to mount
39:53on the hundreds
39:54of scientists
39:55recruited to work
39:56on one of the most
39:56well-kept secrets
39:57of the war
39:58the Manhattan Project.
40:01Of course the people
40:02that were running
40:02the place
40:02were using the schedule
40:03as far as us
40:04working stiffs
40:05we just kept working
40:06because we were
40:07very aware of the fact
40:08that other people
40:09our age were getting
40:10shot at
40:10you know
40:10and it was our job
40:12to stop that.
40:16Next on the last days
40:19of World War II
40:20the final phase
40:21of combat
40:22on Okinawa
40:23is amongst
40:23the bloodiest.
40:26We weren't in
40:27a very forgiving mood
40:28we took great delight
40:30throwing dirt
40:31on the bodies
40:32and leaving
40:32the fits to come.
40:34Japanese forces
40:35on Borneo
40:36sent hundreds
40:37of Australian
40:38and British soldiers
40:39on a death march
40:40across the island.
40:41The standing policy
40:42was that
40:43if a commander
40:45thought that
40:46allied forces
40:47were going to
40:48retake a position
40:49he was to
40:50kill all the prisoners.
40:52And an infamous
40:53voice of Nazi propaganda
40:55William Joyce
40:56also known
40:57as Lord Haw Haw
40:58is captured.
41:00Here was this man
41:01whose voice
41:01they'd had to listen to
41:02mocking them
41:03from Germany
41:04from Hitler's capital
41:05year after year
41:05and now there he was
41:07and it was felt
41:07there was no choice
41:08but to execute him.
41:10Foi a little while
41:17ç›´ç®—
41:17The
41:20obvious
41:21had been
41:22it's caused
41:24the
41:24piece of
41:25the
41:27song
41:27who
41:28was
41:28the
41:28humans
41:28who
41:30had been
41:30to
41:31the
41:31man
41:32who
41:33what
41:33they
41:34were
41:35to
41:36to
41:37you
Recommended
41:55
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