Europe’s Secret Armies - Resisting Hitler
6 x 52 minute programmes
The background to the series
The armies of the countries of mainland Europe were
powerless to stop Hitler’s war machine as it crushed all in its
path during the early months of World War Two. The terrifying tactic of
‘Blitzkrieg’ brought rich reward for the Wermacht as city
after city fell beneath the Nazi jackboot.
The people of previously free counties were
suddenly forced to live under a foreign invader and almost immediately
some began to look for a way to fight back. There were other ways to
defeat an army other than on the battlefield.
The Resistance forces were born
Resistance took many practical forms. Guerrilla
forces of all sizes fought military actions against Axis troops;
clandestine civilian organisations performed acts of sabotage or
espionage; labour or religious groups led acts of civil disruption and
protest and underground presses spread prohibited ideas and
information. Support for the allies was co-ordinated; escape routes
were established and there were countless individual acts of heroic
defiance all designed to hinder the Axis armies and force them to
divert resources to the control of conquered countries.
The Aims of the Series
‘Europe’s Secret Armies’ is not
only an exploration of the stories behind the resistance and partisan
groups that formed to fight a hated oppressor. These were civilian
armies, formed by ordinary men and women left with no other option but
to go underground and strike back. The series hears from those who were
not content to bend the knee or were not prepared to be part of Adolf
Hitler’s ever-growing Third Reich.
The series also investigates the scope and style of
resistance within Nazi Germany itself. Despite the Enabling Act these
groups, which were often born of fear and resentment, were numerous
before the war and many survived through it. Organisations such as the
Solf Circle, the Kreisau Circle, the Eilbeck Comrades and the New
Beginnen played a major role in the gradual erosion of Hitler’s
power on the home front.
The Human Story - Life inside the Resistance
Movements
Who were the men and women who made up the
resistance movements? What memories can they share of their time in the
secret armies? What difference do they feel they made? How where they
organised? How real was the fear of betrayal?
The Style of the Series
Underpinned by a single narration,
‘Europe’s Secret Armies’ will feature:
• Archive footage from Eastern and Western
European sources
• Dramatised eye-witness accounts
• Authentic stylised recreations
• Interviews with the veterans of the
resistance and partisan groups
• Comment and analysis by social and military
historians
• Brand new location footage from the cities
of Europe
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Eagle Media Productions 2003
