The BEST episodes directed by Mark Hayhurst
#1 - Hans Litten vs Adolf Hitler: To Stop a Tyrant
BBC Documentaries - Season 2011 - Episode 144
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?
#2 - Hitler On Trial
PBS Specials - Season 2011 - Episode 7
In the summer of 1931, a young lawyer called Hans Litten put rising political star, Adolf Hitler, in the witness box of a Berlin court. He wanted to expose Hitler's hypocrisy and secret commitment to violence and shatter the Nazi party's political respectability. In an audacious and hostile cross-examination, Hitler was forced to defend his beliefs, his ambitions, his methods and the essence of Nazism, in open court. Litten wanted to challenge the public as Germany and the rest of Europe seemed to be sleep-walking to fascism. If Litten's warnings had been taken seriously, Hitler's financial support might well have collapsed. There would have been no Nazi election victory. No Reichstag fire, no Third Reich, no Final Solution. Litten didn't win, but Hitler never forgot and once the Nazis were in power, Litten was arrested and imprisoned in Dachau concentration camp where he ultimately committed suicide. A brave and complex individual, Litten was left-wing, Jewish, and passionately committed to the idea of justice. This documentary explores Litten's personal story while also examining the broader historical and ethical debate. It discovers the consequences of Litten's heroism both for himself and for those closest to him, tracking his tragic journey from court room to suicide.