Inside The Nazi War Machine — Season 1, Episode 5: In Search Of History: The Nazi Bomb
41 min • 1 season, 5 episodes
Episode synopsis
WWII ended not with a whimper but with a bang, as the Allied forces' famous Manhattan Project succeeded in developing the first operational atomic bombs, dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki with devastating effect. The crucial scientific breakthrough made by the scientists involved resulted in a decisive strike that swiftly ended the war, but few know how close the Axis powers came to developing a nuclear capability of their own. The Nobel Prize-winning German physicist Werner Heisenberg, author of the famous uncertainty principle, led the scientific research team that aimed to develop atomic weapons for the Nazis. Along with numerous high-profile colleagues, Heisenberg was captured by the Allies in May 1945 and the Nazi nuclear program never came to fruition. Yet it may be that Heisenberg, with the aid of a U.S. spy, sabotaged his own work to ensure it would fail. Could these rumours be true, and if so, who was the spy?
About Inside The Nazi War Machine
Discover the terrifying truth behind one of the most sinister yet effective organisations of the past century, as we take an in-depth look inside the Nazi war machine. Examine the technology that enabled Hitler's Nazi regime to spread death and destruction across Europe and far beyond, from the airborne Luftwaffe, aggressors in the infamous Blitz bombing campaign, to the Panzer tanks that dominated Europe's battlefields and the 'Wolf Packs' of U-boats that terrorised international waters. Explore the rigorous training, tactics and equipment available to Hitler's elite fighting forces through unique footage of these highly accomplished units in action. Learn how the Nazi plan to develop an atomic bomb could have drastically altered the course of the war, and of all human history, before witnessing perhaps the most chilling artefact of all: the blueprints and diagrams for the Auschwitz Concentration Camp.