Luke Tomes joins WW2 expert and Third Reich expert Jonny Whitlam to explore the remains of the Wolf's Lair complex today, imagining how decisions of such immense consequence were made in this remote, heavily fortified forest, and how close history came to taking a very different turn.
During World War Two, Hitler spent most of his time in his secret bunker, making it the perfect location for a group of German officers to attempt to assassinate him. The failed Hitler assassination attempt happened on July 20 1944, in the plot known as 'Operation Valkyrie'. A bomb was detonated during a military briefing inside the complex, but Hitler survived death with only minor injuries, allowing Hitler's Nazi regime to carry on.
Up Next in World War Two
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Churchill's Secret Army
Dan Snow investigates an extraordinary network of secret cells and underground bunkers built during Britain's "darkest hour".
In the summer of 1940, Britain and its empire stood alone as the Nazi war machine stormed through Europe. But in its darkest hour, Prime Minister Winston Churchill create...
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Hitler's Last 48 Hours
What happened to Hitler's body? When did he die? What really happened in the last 48 hours of his life? In this extraordinary episode of 'As It Happened', historian Emma Craigie and Dan Snow discuss the final moments of the Fuhrer's life in the bunker beneath the Reich Chancellery in Berlin.
Emm...
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The Pope and Hitler
On 2 March 2020 Pope Francis made accessible to researchers some of the most controversial documents in the recent history of the Vatican: the files on the papacy of Pius XII, which had until now been kept locked in the Secret Archives of the Holy See.
Eugenio Maria Pacelli – Pope Pius XII – was...
