Rise of the Nazis
Rise of the Nazis is a British documentary series about the rise and fall of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. The first series aired in 2019, followed by the second and third series in 2022, and the fourth and final series in 2023. Several historians and military experts give their perspective on the events.
Contributors
In the series, historians and other experts are interviewed, each representing particular people. The experts are listed in order of appearance.- Dr. Stephan Malinowski - Kurt von Schleicher
- General Sir Mike Jackson - Paul von Hindenburg, General Georgy Zhukov, and Captain Victor Cross
- Prof. Sir Richard Evans - Adolf Hitler
- Baroness Helena Kennedy QC - Hans Litten
- Giles MacDonogh - Franz von Papen
- Prof. Richard Overy - Hermann Göring
- Ash Sarkar - Ernst Thälmann
- Dr. Heike B. Görtemaker - Ernst Röhm and Albert Speer
- Dr. Christian Goeschel - Heinrich Himmler, Rudolf Höss and Adolf Eichmann
- Dr. Timothy W. Ryback - Josef Hartinger
- Clare Mulley - Edgar Jung and Eva Braun
- Garry Kasparov - Joseph Stalin
- Sir John Scarlett - Vyacheslav Molotov
- Prof. Alexandra Richie - Walther von Brauchitsch
- Anne Nelson - Harro and Libertas Schulze-Boysen
- Sir Antony Beevor - Friedrich Paulus
- Dr. Pablo de Orellana - Joseph Goebbels and Magda Goebbels
- Afua Hirsch - Sophie Scholl
- James Bulgin - Claus von Stauffenberg
- Prof. Hannah Elsisi - Helene Podliasky
- Daniel Levin - Norbert Masur
- Omar Mohammed - Robert Limpert
- Dr. Gwen Adshead - Gustave Gilbert
- Lindsay Moran - Robert Taylor
- Prof. Gerald Steinacher - Klaus Barbie
- Dr. Ronen Steinke - Fritz Bauer
- Avner Avraham - Isser Harel
- Gerald Posner - Josef and Rolf Mengele
- Melanie Levensohn - Beate Klarsfeld
Response
A review of the first series in The Times described the first series as a lesson in 'how easily — and petrifyingly quickly — a democratic country can move to a totalitarian dictatorship.' A TV Insider review of the American release on PBS a little over a year later described the series as "riveting" and "as gripping as any fictional thriller." A more critical review by James Delingpole in the conservative publication The Spectator suggested that the first series made inappropriate comparisons to political developments at around the time of its production, such as Brexit and the presidency of Donald Trump, concluding that "it's time the BBC gave up trying to pretend it's a voice of impartial authority".A short review in The Guardian said of the second series that "bringing something new to TV coverage of the second world war is no mean feat, but this narratively gripping take on the eastern front comes very close." A more detailed review in The Telegraph was complimentary of the series summarising it as "television that is informative, intelligent and surprising – if only there was more of this on BBC Two."