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In one of the most consequential moments of the last century, on January 30, 1933, Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany. The series explores how an inconsequential 'nobody' gained such power so quickly, and why people followed his lead.

It was arguably the deadliest conference in human history. The topic: plans to murder 11 million Jews in Europe. The participants were not psychopaths, but educated men from the SS, police, administration and ministries. The invitation to the meeting at Wannsee came from Reinhard Heydrich, head of the Reich Security Main Office. The Wehrmacht's campaigns of conquest in Eastern Europe marked the beginning of the systematic murder of Jews in Poland and the Soviet Union. In mid-September 1941, Hitler made the decision to deport all Jews from Germany to the East. Although there had been transports before, Hitler's order represented a further escalation in the murderous decision-making process. Persecution and discrimination had been part of everyday life since 1933. But as a result, the living conditions for the Jews in the Third Reich became even more difficult, among them the Berlin Jew Margot Friedländer, born in 1921, and the Chotzen family.

For 28 years, the Berlin Wall split a city and a whole nation. While the notorious dangers frightened many GDR citizens, there were others who tried to overcome it. Families fly across the border in a home-made hot air balloon or swing over the Wall hanging from a makeshift pulley. The Wall still works but Communism is crumbling behind it. Suddenly, the borders are open, and the Wall comes down.