Hitlers Manager

They were masters of their subjects - scientists, businessmen, engineers and military experts - and they had to choose between their careers and their consciences. They made the rise of Hitler possible and became part of the machinery of power by which he ruled. Only a few of these people used their influence to speak out against him. Many proved unable to resist the temptation of sacrificing their moral integrity for the sake of their careers. After the fall of the Nazi regime most of them resorted to the claim that they had only been aware of events in their immediate surroundings, and not of the terrible crimes committed by the regime.
This documentary portrays men from a wide variety of backgrounds, working in various fields. There was military expert Alfred Jodl, Hitler's closest and most trusted military adviser, who took part in over 5,000 meetings to discuss the progress of the war and worked to ensure that the chain of command between Hitler and his generals functioned without a hitch - although he himself hardly ever visited the front line. A military bureaucrat obsessed with his duty, he was one of the masterminds behind the scenes, utterly under the spell of the Führer. He would never voice any objection to one of Hitler's plans on moral grounds - only from practical considerations. Even though he was aware that Hitler was waging war in contravention of international law, he remained loyal to his idol to the very end... and attempted to portray himself at the Nuremberg Trials as a conscientious but politically naive officer. The documentary presents new insights into the positive aspects and also the sinister sides of the personalities in leading positions in their specialist fields, revealing how closely entwined responsibility and entanglement, brilliance and tragedy were in the shadow of the swastika. (forgalmazó hivatalos szövege)