Explore how the Nazis built some of the biggest, deadliest pieces of military technology.
In a quest for world domination, the Nazis built some of the biggest and deadliest pieces of military hardware and malevolent technology in history.
This six-part series recounts World War II from a unique new perspective, uncovering the engineering secrets of iconic megastructures, telling the stories of the engineers who designed them and revealing how these structures sparked a technological revolution that changed warfare forever.
EPISODE GUIDE:
Episode 1: "V1: Hitler's Vengeance Missile" aired Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2015 at 10 p.m. - In retaliation for devastating Allied bombing raids on German cities, Hitler orders the development of a groundbreaking weapon. This is the story of one of the most ambitious projects of the Third Reich: Hitler’s Vengeance weapon, the V1. Though it was ready too late to make a difference to the outcome of the war, its legacy is the cruise missile — a weapon that changed the face of war forever.
Episode 2: "The Wolf's Lair" aired Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2015 at 10 p.m. - As European countries fall like dominoes to the all-conquering German armies, Hitler becomes convinced of his own military genius. He plans to invade Russia and orders the construction of a huge, heavily protected command complex of bunkers and buildings named the Wolf’s Lair. But as he isolates himself in his concrete city, the war begins to slip from his grasp and a conspiracy is hatched to make the secret base his tomb.
Episode 3: "The SS" repeats Tuesday, April 18, 2017 at 8 p.m. - As Hitler’s power grows within Nazi Germany, so does that of the SS. From its humble beginnings as Hitler’s personal body guard, the SS under the leadership of Heinrich Himmler becomes a terrifying cult that engineers Hitler’s vision for a new Germany.
By the start of the war, the SS holds sway in politics, police and security and is responsible for the creation of the concentration camps. Its power, influence and terror spread with the creation of a military wing: the Waffen SS. By the end of the war, the SS has grown into a machine that controls of every aspect of the Third Reich and brutally disposes of any opposition to Hitler.
Episode 4: "Kamikaze" aired Wednesday, April 15, 2015 at 10 p.m. - As America threatened to invade Japan in 1944, the Japanese turned to desperate tactics — kamikaze suicide bombers. Now, experts are uncovering the clues to the terrifying weapons Japan sent into war: killer planes, rocket bombs and super torpedoes, all guided by human pilots. Exploring Japan’s coast, the experts uncover caves, overgrown bunkers and top-secret bases that hide the secrets to how kamikaze weapons were built and launched.
Episode 5: "The Siegfried Line" repeats Tuesday, April 18, 2017 at 9 p.m. - Five times the length of Hadrian’s Wall, Hitler’s Siegfried Line was one of the greatest fortifications in the history of warfare. The campaign to breach it took six months and cost the American forces close to 140,000 casualties. This is the story of the men who built it and those who gave their lives fighting to defend and destroy it.
Episode 6: "The Eagle's Nest" aired Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2017 at 8 p.m. - Investigate Hitler’s mountain power house. Home to a Nazi elite, it became a labyrinth of underground tunnels, bunkers and secret escape routes, crowned by the awe-inspiring Eagle’s Nest.
“The scope of these projects and the superhuman efforts that brought them to fruition remains astonishing, even 70 years later,” said Executive Producer Simon Young. “We want viewers to understand the extraordinary lengths to which the Nazis went in order to realize their ill-fated dream of world domination. This was a fascinating era of history, made even more chilling by the fact that some many of these structures are still around today.”
NAZI MEGA WEAPONS was produced by Darlow Smithson.
