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4. My Word is My Pledge

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

When a merger with other nationalist parties is suggested, Hitler – effectively the Nazi Party’s only source of revenue – threatens resignation if he is not given total, unquestioning control over every aspect of the party. He uses this to establish the paramilitary Storm Division led by Captain Ernst Röhm, the ‘Machine Gun King of Bavaria’. So when Mussolini takes power in Italy in October 1922, everyone is asking: when will Hitler launch his own coup?

Starring Nancy Carroll as Helene Bechstein, Tom Mothersdale as Adolf Hitler and featuring Edward Bennett as Gottfried Feder, the Nazi Party’s first economist, and Joseph Alessi as Ernst Röhm.

Cast:
Helene Bechstein - NANCY CARROLL
Adolf Hitler - TOM MOTHERSDALE
Ernst Röhm - JOSEPH ALESSI
Karl Harrer - OSCAR BATTERHAM
Gottfried Feder - EDWARD BENNETT
Rudolf Hess - GEORGE KEMP
Anton Drexler - JACK LASKEY
Other parts were played by: WILLIAM CHUBB, NICHOLAS FARRELL, SCOTT KARIM, SORCHA KENNEDY, MICHAEL MALONEY, FORBES MASSON, LYNNE MILLER and ANDREW WOODALL
The Narrator is JULIET STEVENSON

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

A Promenade Production for Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 4 and Â鶹ԼÅÄ Sounds

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22 minutes

10 Things You Might Not Know About Adolf Hitler and the Nazis

10 Things You Might Not Know About Adolf Hitler and the Nazis

Uncovering lesser-known facts about the scarcely-credible rise to power of the Nazi party

Podcast