Product Description

Hermann Goering’s Secret State Police were tasked to arrest and torture confessions and information from supposed enemies of the Reich. All the powers of the Judiciary were taken into its hands and the courts rendered superfluous. A compelling account of one of the true horror stories of the century.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #18604 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-08-23
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 51 minutes

Customer Reviews

Must have for history buffs
Interesting to say the least. The documentary on the Gestapo was informative to a tee. The only fault I found was that some emphasis could have been placed on the more dubious characters that made up the Secret State Police such as Klaus Barbie ( The Buthcher of Lyon) etc.. Otherwise well worth it. A must have for those who are interested in the goings on in the Third Reich.

Gestapo in time and space
This documentary is that : a documentary, so you should expect a lot of pre-war and war news reels and you do get them. One hour of them, actually. There is an acceptable commentary running the whole length of the film that tries to explain the who's who of the Gestapo. You will see many of the news reel that you have seen elsewhere, assuming you have at least a modicum of interest for that era.

The disturbing element is always the same: the gradual disappearance of any deference to the rule of law. It ends up with not even a lip service to due process. No need to even rig a trial, it would be a waste of time and the Fuhrer does not like to waste time. The turning point is probably the Rohm purge: kill first then legalize the killing the day after.

The commentator does make an effort to show the how and when of this progression but the limited time available (1 hour) put this goal a bit out of reach.

Commendably, the movie does a good overview of the Gestapo at work in most occupied territories, something I had not seen before.

The movie is also an excellent memory exerciser that will give a fresh layer on many fading memories of those archetypal villains. Yet, we see them usually beaming and the horrifying acts they committed are rarely documented with news reels, apart from very late shots on the concentration camps made by Allied reporters.

Still, it is worth to be seen.

M.V.

still hunting
It was very good stuff but I have a live nazi across town. I need to see the documentary that aired on network around 2006-2008. During the summer-3 or 4 consecutive evenings. I think he is John Demjanjuik's boss at the Sobibor camp-contact Gordon 260-493-6043