Hitler's Most Wanted

James is retracing the story of Heinrich Himmler to find out how the middle class son of a schoolteacher became one of the main architects of Nazi evil. Second only to Hitler, Himmler was the criminal mastermind behind the Aryan breeding program known as Lebensborn, and the infamous death camps. Today, James picks up disturbing signs of fascism’s resurgence in contemporary Munich.

Hitler’s minister of propaganda, Josef Goebbels was the mastermind behind the brainwashing campaign that eventually seduced Germany into joining the Nazi cause. James explores how the virulently anti-semitic Goebbels orchestrated a campaign of hate that paved the way for the Holocaust. Today, radicalism is again on the rise in Germany, and James joins a counter protest on the front lines.

As Hitler’s second in command, Hermann Goering was a ruthless and flamboyant manipulator, and James is exploring how this revered fighter pilot of the First World War could emerge as a psychopathic war criminal in the Second. Addicted to wealth and power, Goering was willing to attain his goals by any means necessary, and as his power increased, so did his taste for the good life.

James is on the trail of Adolf Eichmann, the notorious Nazi bureaucrat who escaped justice for 15 years until his trial made the Holocaust a household name. Under oath, Eichmann insisted he was a powerless middle manager who was simply following orders, and James is determined to find out if there’s any truth to this. James meets with a prosecutor who’s chasing criminals from the Third Reich.

The architectural mastermind of the Third Reich, Albert Speer escaped the noose at the end of the war. But James believes there’s a monstrous truth behind Speer’s carefully crafted lies, and is determined to reveal the full extent of his crimes. James visits an underground concentration camp that leaves no doubt about Speer’s eager participation in the atrocities of the Holocaust.

The demon doctor of Auschwitz, Josef Mengele conducted barbaric experiments on victims. Tracing the origin of his sadistic pseudo-science, James is on a mission to determine what so corrupted a medical doctor that he went down in history as the Angel of Death. In Mengele’s hometown, there’s nothing to hint at the monster he was to become, but a memorial for his victims is a reminder of his crimes.

Hitler’s naval commander Karl Donitz was a fanatical Nazi who would do anything to support the party’s aims. After the war, he claimed he’d only been a sailor following orders, but James is determined to prove Donitz was a war criminal who earned his role as Hitler’s successor. James kicks off the investigation and learns how Donitz masterminded Germany’s ruthless campaign on the high seas.

As Hitler’s personal lawyer, Hans Frank twisted the law to further the Führer’s brutal agenda, and in enslaving an entire nation became known as the Butcher of Poland. James is determined to find out how this lawyer turned into a power-hungry monster. A memorial in Berlin is a sobering reminder of the devastation caused by the racist Nazi laws Frank enforced.

As Hitler’s master spy, Wilhelm Canaris staged covert operations that ultimately caused chaos and destruction. But he was also a double agent who provided secrets to the Allies and helped Jews escape from Germany. It’s a complex story, and James wants to know more. Berlin’s spy museum outlines the many plots orchestrated by Canaris and the clever tools used by his operatives.

James is in Italy where he’s investigating Benito Mussolini—the brutal dictator whose violent path to power set the template for the rise of Nazi Germany. Though not a Nazi, Mussolini’s fascist alliance with the Führer places him squarely inside Hitler’s circle of evil. Mussolini’s hometown has become a shrine for fans of Il Duce where James is shocked to find a booming trade in fascist souvenirs.