1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites
HistoryGermany

Hitler's Reich - A German Journal

May 2, 2025

On 8 May 2025, the world marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. The Allied victory brought an end to Adolf Hitler's 12-year rule.

Hitler's Reich - A German Journal
Image: New Docs

Journal entries from Hitler's supporters and opponents offer insight into life in Nazi Germany.

This four-part documentary series centers on eight individuals and their families. Each kept a diary recording their daily lives, experiences, thoughts, and feelings.

Image: NewDocs

Illustrations accompany the entries to bring them to life, giving these sequences the look of a graphic novel.

Image: NewDocs

The eight diarists lived scattered across Germany. They came from different socioeconomic backgrounds, religions, and political factions. Some become fervent supporters of the Nazi regime, others opposed it, and some were marginalized or persecuted.

Image: NewDocs

Several of the journal span the entire 12 years of Hitler's rule. But some fall silent after a given time. "Hitler's Reich - A German Journal" features no expert testimonies; instead, the diaries stand alone, as personal records of the time in which they were written.

Image: NewDocs

In the entries, we find descriptions of moments of happiness, youth, dance lessons, longing and love; but also of the first - still hesitant - Nazi salute, Gestapo surveillance, "Aryan certificates," hunger, and the threat of deportation.

Image: NewDocs

They capture a time when many looked the other way, remained silent, or became complicit. They speak of what it felt like when the war "came home," the fear of nights spent in bunkers, and the hope of survival.

Image: NewDocs

The diarists wrote with the urgency of the present, not knowing what tomorrow would bring.  Their stories reflect the rise, reign, and eventual downfall of the Nazi regime. 
 

Broadcasting Hours: 

DW English

Part 1

SAT 10.05.2025 – 11:03 UTC
SAT 10.05.2025 – 22:03 UTC
SUN 11.05.2025 – 05:03 UTC

Part 2

SAT 17.05.2025 – 11:03 UTC
SAT 17.05.2025 – 22:03 UTC
SUN 18.05.2025 – 05:03 UTC

Part 3

SAT 24.05.2025 – 11:03 UTC
SAT 24.05.2025 – 22:03 UTC
SUN 25.05.2025 – 05:03 UTC

Part 4

SAT 31.05.2025 – 11:03 UTC
SAT 31.05.2025 – 22:03 UTC
SUN 01.06.2025 – 05:03 UTC

Lagos UTC +1 | Cape Town UTC +2 | Nairobi UTC +3
Delhi UTC +5,5 | Bangkok UTC +7 | Hong Kong UTC +8
London UTC +1 | Berlin UTC +2 | Moscow UTC +3
San Francisco UTC -7 | Edmonton UTC -6 | New York UTC -4

Skip next section DW's Top Story

DW's Top Story

Skip next section More stories from DW

More stories from DW