Channel 5 (UK) Documentaries

7 Days That Made The Fuhrer (2013x15)

: 18, 2013

How did a handful of events turn the unremarkable son of an Austrian civil servant into the 20th century’s most evil dictator? This film unpicks the most momentous days of Hitler’s early life, each of which had a profound influence on his mental make-up. It begins with a look at the period when his ambitions to be an artist were crushed after he was rejected from an art academy. This set in motion a chain of events that led to further personal tragedies and triumphs as he became swept up in world events that seemed to be completely out of his control. The investigation ends with his invasion of Austria in 1938 – the moment that his plans for world domination began to be realised. Charting Hitler’s pre-WWII history, the film shows how, in the space of three decades, he turned from a rudderless dreamer into the leader of the most powerful country in Europe, poised to begin World War II. Interviews with a variety of experts from clinical psychologists to speech analysts give a unique and sometimes uncomfortable insight into Hitler’s inner world. As each of these pivotal moments unfolds, the experts illuminate precisely how it affected him and what the consequences were. The picture that emerges is that no single event made Hitler into the deranged despot he became, but that his transformation was due to a combination of many different factors, from his own twisted psychology and determination to his ability to take advantage of a situation and just plain luck. The film gets under Hitler’s skin to expose the seven most influential days of his life. It reveals how these seven days created the perfect personal storm which would create the Führer, the man who would lead the world into the most devastating war in history.