Nazis: The Road to Power

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Nazis: The Road to Power: 4. The Big Lie

4. The Big Lie

BBC Radio 4 - Nazis: The Road to Power, 4. The Big Lie

Hitler recognises Goebbels’ propaganda skills and draws him deeper into the movement.

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

Far away in the Rhineland, 26-year-old Joseph Goebbels has a PhD, an unpublished novel and a half-Jewish girlfriend, Else Janke. But he finds himself drawn to the Nazi Party and Hitler’s rhetoric. Every day in his diary (concealed until this century) he records his excitement as he reads about Hitler defending himself – the latter is now on trial in Munich for his totally unsuccessful coup. 

Released from prison just six months later, Hitler must now renounce violence and vow that the Nazi Party will seek power through the ballot box. Goebbels is drawn deeper into the party faction who advocate the Socialism in ‘National Socialism’ but how will he react when Hitler writes to him personally, seeking to bring him closer to his own standpoint? And will it mean the end of his relationship with Else?

Starring Alexander Vlahos as Joseph Goebbels, Tom Mothersdale as Adolf Hitler and featuring Sorcha Kennedy as Else Janke and Joseph Alessi as Gregor Strasser.

Cast:
Joseph Goebbels - ALEXANDER VLAHOS 
Adolf Hitler - TOM MOTHERSDALE 
Gregor Strasser - JOSEPH ALESSI 
Emil Maurice & Rudolf Diels - OSCAR BATTERHAM 
Helene Bechstein - NANCY CARROLL 
Otto von Lossow - NICHOLAS FARRELL 
Leni Hanfstaengl - MELODY GROVE 
Putzi Hanfastaengl - COREY JOHNSON 
Herman Göring - SCOTT KARIM 
Rudolf Hess - GEORGE KEMP 
Else Janke - SORCHA KENNEDY 
Hermine Hoffman - LYNNE MILLER 
General Ludendorff - ANDREW WOODALL 
Other parts were played by: EDWARD BENNETT, WILLIAM CHUBB, JACK LASKEY, 
FORBES MASSON and MICHAEL MALONEY
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

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How Adolf Hitler turned a fringe sect into the dominant force in German politics.

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.

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