BBC Documentaries

Hans Litten vs Adolf Hitler: To Stop a Tyrant (2011x144)

Air date: Aug 27, 2011

Documentary which reveals the story of German lawyer Hans Litten's public attempt to challenge Adolf Hitler. It examines Litten's life and work, the circumstances which prompted him to take such an extraordinary risk with his own safety, and the fate that awaited him after his historic confrontation with Hitler in a Berlin courtroom. This study of courage, politics and humanity combines original archive material and interviews with Litten's friends and family, survivors from the street-fighting political landscape of 1930s Berlin, and historians and lawyers to illuminate Litten's tactics and choices. The documentary also explores Litten's story after the trial, his arrest and torture by the Nazis, and his courage in the concentration camps as Hitler's first political prisoner. So what drove a 29-year-old lawyer with his whole career ahead of him to challenge fascism so directly, pursuing the man at the top and forcing Hitler to account for the violence of his massive private army?