Nazi Mega Weapons

Originally broadcast on PBS, this six-part series details the rarely-told story of the military technology projects developed by the Nazis as part of their effort to achieve world domination. Ironically, the time and energy devoted to trying to create new weaponry actually helped divert engineering and military brainpower away from the actual bother of fending off Allied advances. The best known of these mega-weapons was the V-2 rocket, created by an engineering team led by Wernher von Braun. While the rockets arrived relatively late in the war, their effectiveness was considerable (Churchill's government tried in vain to downplay their impact on the British). Nazi Mega Weapons also looks at lesser-known aspects of the Nazi war machine, including the so-called “Atlantic Wall” fortifications, and a massive submarine base off the coast of France. Rare newsreel footage and dramatic reconstructions using CGI effects help illustrate the ultimately futile efforts made by Hitler's government to remain in power, while the surviving weapons and battle sites offer a stark contemporary view of the remains of the doomed Nazi empire. A must-see for World War II scholars, this compelling production is highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)