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7. Hitler? Whatever Happened to Him?

Episode 7 of 8

The story of how, in just 13 years, Adolf Hitler led a fringe sect with less than a hundred members and outlandish ideas to become the dominant force in German politics.

By 1932, the Nazis are the largest single group in Parliament but no-one will invite them into coalition and President Hindenburg refuses to even contemplate Hitler as Chancellor.

Yet Hitler flatly refuses any arrangement where he is not Chancellor – Vice-Chancellor will not suffice. But so many of his party members, his stormtroopers have been waiting for government jobs, government salaries – they’re pushing hard for the compromise. Can Hitler hold them off for long enough to secure total power?

Meanwhile the current Chancellor, General von Schleicher, and the previous, Franz von Papen, are both determined to unseat each other – once allies, they are now sworn enemies. President Hindenburg would rather see von Papen restored to the post but, like von Schleicher, he cannot form a governing majority. Meanwhile the President’s son, Oskar, once a close friend of von Schleicher, starts to see a way through - and it involves the Nazi Party.

Starring Derek Jacobi as President Hindenburg, Jack Laskey as Oskar von Hindenburg, Tom Mothersdale as Adolf Hitler and featuring Aditomiwa Edun as the Daily Express Berlin Correspondent, Sefton Delmer.

Cast:
President Hindenburg - DEREK JACOBI
Sefton Delmer - ADITOMIWA EDUN
Adolf Hitler - TOM MOTHERSDALE
Gregor Strasser - JOSEPH ALESSI
Heinrich Himmler - OSCAR BATTERHAM
Otto Meissner - EDWARD BENNETT
Franz von Papen - WILLIAM CHUBB
Putzi Hanfastaengl - COREY JOHNSON
Herman Göring - SCOTT KARIM
Rudolf Hess - GEORGE KEMP
Oskar von Hindenburg - JACK LASKEY
Joachim von Ribbentrop - MICHAEL MALONEY
Magda Goebbels - SHANAYA RAFAAT
Joseph Goebbels - ALEXANDER VLAHOS
Kurt von Schleicher - ANDREW WOODALL
The Narrator is JULIET STEVENSON

Sound Designer – ADAM WOODHAMS
Studio Manager – MARK SMITH
Casting Director – GINNY SCHILLER
Original Score – METAPHOR MUSIC
Producer – NICHOLAS NEWTON
Writer and Director – JONATHAN MYERSON

A Promenade production for Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4 and Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Sounds

44 minutes

Last on

Thu 23 Feb 2023 14:15

Broadcast

  • Thu 23 Feb 2023 14:15

Listen to the whole series of Nazis: The Road to Power

Listen to the whole series of Nazis: The Road to Power

The rise of fascism and the cult of the leader, in a Germany shattered by defeat.