The History Channel Is Hunting Hitler
Some thoughts and a review of History Channe’sl new documentary series Hunting Hitler the show that investigates the theory that Adolf Hitler escaped his bunker and survived the war
‘We have proved Adolf Hitler’s end did not take place in his Berlin bunker in 1945 as history had us believe. After an intensive investigation and the gathering of evidence showing that he escaped Germany with his bride Eva Braun, boarded a plane, got on a U-Boat, arrived in Argentina, hid in the mountains and worked undetected as a landscaper for decades, we have tracked down his current location.
And no he’s not dead folks, but is in fine health! Here is a grainy picture of the 126-year-old former Fuhrer enjoying a glass of lemonade while sitting with his German shepherd. He declined our requests for an interview.’
That would be such a great, surprising and satisfying way to conclude the History Channel’s new documentary series Hunting Hitler. I bet you it won’t be coming close to how cool that scenario would be though.
I’ve been tuning into this show since hearing about it and I have to admit I’ve shamefully been enjoying it. I rarely watch the History Channel anymore. I used to like it years ago when it was mainly the ‘WWII channel’. Ever since they became mainly dedicated to shows about picking antiques from dusty garages and pawning them off in a Vegas store I usually breeze past their programming. If anything H2 – History Channel’s second network – has more to do with actual history programming than it’s main channel.
In case you haven’t heard or gotten clued in yet, Hunting Hitler is a so-called ‘docu-series’ about a team of investigators led by CIA veteran Bob Baer to discover ‘the real truth’ about what really happened to Hitler. Going off of declassified FBI files that questioned the validity of Hitler’s suicide in Berlin in April 1945, this team examines the evidence and possible route that an escaping Hitler might have taken.
The show hasn’t convinced me that is Hitler is alive. At times the leaps of logic they base this ‘investigation’ off of and the apparent leads they follow are pretty eye rolling, but it is an interesting concept to consider. The idea that Hitler somehow managed to escape a falling Germany is a fascinating one, but I don’t buy it. It would make a great fictional ‘what if’ story, but any actual validity to it seems ludicrous.
Hunting Hitler is an entertainment show afterall. It plays very loose with certain facts. For example, it completely ignores certain witness testimony while placing more legitimacy on others just to make its premise work and to keep the theory kicking alive. The big revelations that the show introduces which is meant to be big dramatic turning points in this hunt are not as jaw-dropping as it presents them. Also the poor acting by the investigators and forced dramatic moments can be quite hysterical.
The whole show is a real stretch of believability, so I’ve been watching it as more goofy entertainment value than any actual history and ‘the search for truth’ happening. In that respect it’s been pretty good. I highly doubt any of the future episodes will persuade me that Hitler managed an escape from his bunker in 1945. I bet the way the film Downfall played out Adolph’s final days is about as close a depiction we’ll get of how Hitler’s end came about.
On a sidenote the History Channel has also been running a special holiday series called Christmas Through the Decades. It’s sort of a similar format to the I Love the 80’s shows VH1 used to do, only this one focuses on Christmas highlights through the decades. Traditions, programming, toys of the period, trends that were popular at the time, pretty interesting stuff.
I’ve only seen the 1960’s one so far and it was good. I never heard the idea of boiling Dr. Pepper as a holiday drink before! How wacky does that sound??? I’ll certainly be tuning into the other episodes. Finally History Channel has two programs I’m finding worth watching.
A segment from Christmas Through The Decades the 1970 episode covering the biggest toy craze of the period – Star Wars
This show is getting more and more interesting. I think it is very possible, and more than likely Hitler did end up in Argentina. What I don't understand is why did the FBI have all these files about him possibly doing what they appear to be showing he did, and why were they kept secret and under wraps?
It's funny, during the war, all the Japanese Americans were rounded up and put in internment camps, yet, German Americans didn't suffer the same fate. And there were even Known Nazi sympathizers as well as people who considered themselves Nazi members. There were even very powerful and influential people who were favorable of Germany, I read where even Henry Ford was possibly a sympathizer. Powerful people with a lot of influence is the only reason I can think of that this information would have been kept so hush hush. That is some very bad news if it's true.
What the HELL are you talking about?
1st and 2nd Generation German Americans were interned at the beginning of the war. And worse yet, they were the last to the be let go. Due to sheer neglect, they were left to rot on Ellis Island 3 years after the war was over.
http://www.traces.org/germaninternees.html
This show is definitely a work of fiction. I like how it glosses over some of the details of Hitler's life. Like how he was afflicted with Parkinson's disease and how he was barely being held together with cocktails of medications (Like Crystal Meth, Opiates, and Bull seamen).
The show does mention Hitler's last appearance on film. But they oddly don't show his hand shaking uncontrollably.
They also talk about Hitler being cunning. But they don't mention his mental breakdowns. Like he was giving orders for troop movement even though the troops he "saw" on the map didn't exist. The only time he had a moment of clarity was during his "The War is Lost" tirade. Which did happen in real life.
Also Hitler wasn't the only one to commit suicide in that bunker. Goebbels, his wife and sadly their children all took their own lives. As did other Nazi inner circle members.
And if you read about Hitler's egomania, you kind of wonder if this guy could stand to be alive with the knowledge that he lost the biggest war of mankind.
What has happened to the History Channel and National Geographic Channel? They used to create interesting documentaries about interesting subjects. Now they have crossed the line into making up shit. At NatGeo, they had a documentary were a "scientist" was looking for a living Megalodon. But the Internet had a hard time trying to verify that anything in the documentary existed. And in "Hunting Hitler" they have this phony investigation while completely disregaring the facts. But they are trying to play it as true.
Why did they think chucking their credibility would a good long term strategy?
For myself, I get the biggest kick out of watching the supposed "Computer Programs" compile their information out of the FBI documents. I don't doubt that programs that can do statistical analysis and link analysis exist. But I doubt they pull up world maps and color code points of interest. Or in the case of the link analysis, draw 3 dimension flow charts. Most Link analysis charts I've seen look like logic puzzles and would probably look more like an excel spreadsheet.
when my grandfather went from germany to argentina he was 19 y/o and went to buenos aires and then after a few years to comodoro rivadavia a city in the patagonia region were my mother was born. when she was about 8 y/o she saw german mechant ships and U-boats unloading machinery and loading food. that's a fact. so I can say there was german activity in the argentine coast line.
all I can say is that my mother saw during WWII german U-boats and ships in the city of comodoro rivadavia in the patagonia region unloading machinery and loading food.
the last show is confusing they show a burial ground that Borman was to be buried in 1959
his daughter said she last saw borman at age 13 she was born 1954 that would be 1967
she claimed he left right after Eickmann was captured in 1960 the burial could be Hitler based on docs that paraguy government had that borman was dead in 1959 because of stomach cancer
hitler had the stomach problems is this show a farce