Over the last couple of years, I have tried to become more informed and more aware of things that have happened in our past. I have tried to learn more about world history and things that happened before I was born.
Especially when it comes to the second World War and the Nazis, I felt that I didn't know enough. I felt that I had to learn more about these events, so that I could feel more comfortable discussing history and the 'Third Reich' with others.
So when it comes to me getting more informed, over the last year there has been one source of information that has inspired me more than the others. History Channel's 'Hunting Hitler' is the series that has made me study WW2 and the Nazis the most.
In a nutshell, the premise of 'Hunting Hitler' is whether Adolf Hitler could have survived the war. Is there evidence that Hitler escaped from Berlin during the last days of the war and that he could have fled from his capturers?
What makes this premise so interesting is that even though there's strong evidence that Hitler died in his bunker, there's no irrefutable proof. In theory it's possible that he could have escaped and made it out alive during the final days of the war.
The series follows leads that suggest that it would have been possible for Hitler to flee undetected. It follows leads like the recently discovered tunnel systems in the underground Berlin that we hadn't been fully aware of before.
The theory of Hitler fleeing the country is also at least somewhat plausible based on a crucial eyewitness testimony. His pilot swore during the Nuremberg trials that he managed to fly Hitler out of Germany during the last days of April in 1945.
When it comes to where he might have escaped, it's obvious that had 'Der Führer' escaped from his bunker before the fall of the 'Third Reich', he couldn't have stayed in Germany. He would have had to flee his country and leave Europe.
The series theorizes that like so many other high ranking Nazis, Hitler could have escaped to Argentina after the war. This is where he could have found his safe haven without being in constant fear of being caught by the allied forces.
In order to find out more, the series sends its investigators to South America and starts looking for clues for Nazi activities post World War Two. They search for any clues that might give us new information about Hitler's postwar whereabouts.
During the first season of the series, it becomes clear that even though the Nazis were defeated in Europe, their ideology wasn't. Especially in Argentina and Chile it's evident that the military juntas sympathized with the nazis and provided them protection.
What makes these 'revelations' on the show so fascinating is that for the first time we're shown places where Hitler could have either resided or was spotted. No stone is left unturned when it comes to his possible locations and hideouts.
We're shown places like the city of Bariloche where there have been sightings of Hitler with his wife Eva Braun. This is the place where Hitler allegedly was hiding before he allegedly settled at his lake side farm in Inalco, Argentina.
We also visit places like Teyu Cuare Park, the nazi jungle hideout and the infamous Colonia Dignidad in Chile. This was the Nazi colony where Josef Mengele, the notorious doctor from Auschwitz allegedly continued his experiments on humans.
Especially when it comes to the recently discovered Nazi fortress at Teyu Cuare Park, it can't be denied how fascinating the ruins of the place are. Hitler's followers clearly spent a lot of effort preparing for the worst in case they would lose the war.
As the series progresses and we get past season one, 'Hunting Hitler' tends to concentrate a bit less on Adolf Hitler specifically. Instead of being all about Hitler's fate, it spends more time on other Nazi activities after the world war 2 and their secret networks.
Among other things, there's fascinating stuff like the Nazis running a nuclear program in Argentina (season 2), the search for Hitler's number two man Martin Bormann in Paraguay, and the infamous Nazi ratlines in Europe that were used after the war (season 3).
Especially when it comes to its current season and the escape routes that Nazis like Adolf Eichmann used, I found the stuff to be really interesting. It's incredible how organizations like the international Red Cross and the Vatican were helping Nazis after the war.
In that sense, when it comes to judging this ongoing series as a whole, even though the series clearly is speculative, there's a lot of good stuff going on in here. There's something for almost everyone who's interested in history and how things might have happened.
Even though it's admittedly true that a lot of the things on the show are indeed conjecture and speculation, that's not all there is to it. One shouldn't concentrate only on Hitler's unlikely escape and disregard every other aspect on the show.
Especially considering that most documentaries don't challenge you in any way, 'Hunting Hitler' is a clear exception. This one actually makes you fact check for yourself whether certain claims are plausible and whether they make sense.
So in the end, even though Hitler almost certainly did die in his bunker on April 30th in 1945, that doesn't mean that we shouldn't raise questions about this moment in history. We shouldn't eat up every claim that the mainstream historians are making.
After all, even though mainstream historians usually get things right, that's not always the case. There have been too many important historical events and cases over the years that they have gotten completely wrong.
We're shown places like the city of Bariloche where there have been sightings of Hitler with his wife Eva Braun. This is the place where Hitler allegedly was hiding before he allegedly settled at his lake side farm in Inalco, Argentina.
We also visit places like Teyu Cuare Park, the nazi jungle hideout and the infamous Colonia Dignidad in Chile. This was the Nazi colony where Josef Mengele, the notorious doctor from Auschwitz allegedly continued his experiments on humans.
Especially when it comes to the recently discovered Nazi fortress at Teyu Cuare Park, it can't be denied how fascinating the ruins of the place are. Hitler's followers clearly spent a lot of effort preparing for the worst in case they would lose the war.
As the series progresses and we get past season one, 'Hunting Hitler' tends to concentrate a bit less on Adolf Hitler specifically. Instead of being all about Hitler's fate, it spends more time on other Nazi activities after the world war 2 and their secret networks.
Among other things, there's fascinating stuff like the Nazis running a nuclear program in Argentina (season 2), the search for Hitler's number two man Martin Bormann in Paraguay, and the infamous Nazi ratlines in Europe that were used after the war (season 3).
Especially when it comes to its current season and the escape routes that Nazis like Adolf Eichmann used, I found the stuff to be really interesting. It's incredible how organizations like the international Red Cross and the Vatican were helping Nazis after the war.
In that sense, when it comes to judging this ongoing series as a whole, even though the series clearly is speculative, there's a lot of good stuff going on in here. There's something for almost everyone who's interested in history and how things might have happened.
Even though it's admittedly true that a lot of the things on the show are indeed conjecture and speculation, that's not all there is to it. One shouldn't concentrate only on Hitler's unlikely escape and disregard every other aspect on the show.
Especially considering that most documentaries don't challenge you in any way, 'Hunting Hitler' is a clear exception. This one actually makes you fact check for yourself whether certain claims are plausible and whether they make sense.
So in the end, even though Hitler almost certainly did die in his bunker on April 30th in 1945, that doesn't mean that we shouldn't raise questions about this moment in history. We shouldn't eat up every claim that the mainstream historians are making.
After all, even though mainstream historians usually get things right, that's not always the case. There have been too many important historical events and cases over the years that they have gotten completely wrong.
In that sense, even if you don't subscribe to 'Hunting Hitler's' premise, you should still give the show a chance. You should give it a chance because the series does make you question things and because it doesn't take everything about our history for granted.
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