Biography: Adolf Hitler - The Rise to Power

Duration: 12:00

Year Published: 1962

Complete Record: Opens with Adolf Hitler marching down a walkway lined with his Nazi soldiers. A rally of Germans all doing the Nazi salute. A large swastika banner awaits at the end of the line. Hitler looks pleased as his bannermen bring more swastika flags down the same aisle. Hitler saluting among his followers. Mike Wallace narrates. Cars filled with Hitler and his congregation driving down crowded German streets. Soldiers hold back people trying to get to him. A photograph of Hitler as a baby. His mother and father. A photo of him among other boys. Impoverished Germans after World War I - a DOG among rubble, people in soup lines, families in hardship, people trying to rebuild. More large crowds. WWI war footage, German solders firing large cannons and mortars, soldiers in trenches and rising out of them to charge. Dead men in the dirt. A young Hitler in his squad of soldiers. Busy German streets. Hitler beginning as a speaker, his followers growing larger. Nazi flag. Young Nazi movement in their brown uniforms. More of Hitler making speeches. The people loving to listen. More zieg heil saluting. Hitler on the face of his book, Mein Kampf. A German beer hall with people dancing in mountain boy type clothing, many people at tables with pints in their hands. A row of Nazi flags. Hitler and Nazis marching and saluting. Throwing papers and pamphlets from moving car in street. Photos of Hitler and his 20 year old niece, Geli Raubel, who eventually committed suicide. Lines of millions of German workers unemployed. Hitler exploits the emergency in Germany by throwing himself into a power struggle for the government. His Nazis get in skirmishes with police. Paul Von Hindenburg is seen with his men. He is wearing a pickelhaube. He is old and ailing, and while he hates Hitler, he must acknowledge him. In 1932 Hitler campaigns against Hindenburg for the presidency. Many campaign posters are seen along poles and walls in public areas. Losing the election, Hitler’s brown shirt Nazis use violence to undermine the government. Hindenburg then appoints several stern men as chancellor, but they can’t neutralize Hitler. Unable to make Hitler go away, Hindenburg appoints him as chancellor. Thousands of Nazis march in the streets at night with torches. Hitler salutes from a window. 1933 - The Reichstag building is set ablaze, completely torched. Nazis are secretly behind the fire, but Hitler blames it on communists and argues that Hindenburg is not strong enough to protect Germany, demanding dictatorial power. Hindenburg, too weak to oppose Hitler at this point, must give up his power to him. Hitler shakes hands with parliament and makes his victory speech. Millions of Nazis in formation. More speeches by Hitler. Hitler appoints his followers, such as Hermann Goring (or Goering). He is seen among the people and drinking from a stein. Joseph Goebbels is seen speaking at a rally and working at Hitler’s side. Rudolf Hess saluting in with a swastika on his sleeve. He also speaks on Hitler’s behalf during one rally. A large bonfire with books being thrown onto it. Many soldiers and civilians toss countless books into the flames. Nazis put up racist posters against Jews and minorities. One draws a Star of David on a shop window. Crowds watch in the street. Soldiers stand by Jewish shops and cause a scene. Many Germans laboring and performing industrial work. Rows of freshly manufactured tanks. Fighter planes in a hanger. Many working Germans waving and smiling in the streets. Gentlemen in top hats. Nazis passing out little flags and balloons with swastikas on them. 1936 - Nazi soldiers begin their march to grab more land. Many soldiers marching in formation, in lines, waving. Hitler and Roberto Mussolini. Both get off a plane and look serious. They pose for people. Hitler and his strategists looking at maps. Tanks and soldiers and armored vehicles on the move. Tans zooming by. Hitler in his car after taking over. English and French ambassadors visit Germany to meet with Hitler and try to stop his expansion. English Ambassador Chamberlain makes Munich Agreement with Hitler for a peaceful resolution, even though Hitler has no intention of honoring it. Chamberlain makes a speech. More footage of Hitler among loving crowds, soldiers in formation. Soviet Union. A horde of Soviet troops in formation in Moscow. Lines of tanks parading through the streets. Stalin and his army is the last true threat to Nazi Germany in Europe. Hitler and Stalin make a non-aggression pact in 1939, which again Hitler does not mean to keep. War planes in the air. Stalin waving at his balcony. Nazi fighter pilots. Bombs being dropped from planes on industrial buildings. Nazi soldiers firing cannons, machine guns, causing all sorts of destruction and war. More Hitler speeches. Another long shot of Nazi soldiers in formation, like large square chunks. Saluting. Mike Wallace again.