The Rise, Fall, and Reckoning of Nazi Germany

Ji-yeon Kim

Before we dive into today’s episode, we want to give a quick heads up. This discussion isn’t really designed for young listeners, especially anyone under, you know, sixth grade.

Amelie Cheng

Yeah, some of the things we’ll talk about aren't ready for the elementary students. So, maybe keep the little ones occupied with something else instead.

Ji-yeon Kim

Exactly. Thanks for understanding, and if you’re sticking around, let’s get started.

Ji-yeon Kim

Alright, now that we’re ready to dive in, let’s talk about the aftermath of World War I, because honestly, that’s where so many of today’s historical lessons begin. Germany was in absolute chaos. The Treaty of Versailles, you know, it crushed the German economy with reparations, restrictions, and, well, humiliation. Entire communities were, like, drowning in debt and unemployment.

Amelie Cheng

It was basically prime conditions for resentment to fester, right? It’s like, when everything falls apart, people look for someone, or something, to blame.

Ji-yeon Kim

Exactly. And Hitler, well, he capitalized on that. He offered... solutions. They were terrifying and deeply flawed, but they played into the fears and anger of that time. The Nazi Party’s propaganda machine? It was relentless. They used every tool available—posters, radio, rallies. And every message was precision-designed to amplify that anger, to direct it—

Amelie Cheng

—And always toward someone else. Like the Jews, political dissidents, or anyone who didn’t fit into, you know, their twisted idea of a “pure Aryan race.”

Ji-yeon Kim

Exactly. They built this dangerous us-versus-them narrative, while silencing dissent. It was that totalitarian grip—spying on and silencing people who stepped out of line. Fear became a tool of governance in Hitler’s regime.

Amelie Cheng

And yet, people rallied behind them. Like, we’ve gotta talk about the early war years, right? It wasn’t just about fear. Early on, they saw winning battles, territory—those quick victories were intoxicating.

Ji-yeon Kim

Absolutely. Their military strategies were brilliant at first. Blitzkrieg, or, you know, lightning war—it was revolutionary for its time. They overwhelmed enemies with speed and force, leaving them disoriented and unable to respond in time.

Amelie Cheng

And it worked, for a while. I mean, they stormed through Poland, France, even parts of the Soviet Union. People thought they were unstoppable.

Ji-yeon Kim

Exactly. But that overreach, combined with spreading their forces too thin... It was a turning point waiting to happen.

Ji-yeon Kim

After that long-awaited turning point, it became clear that defeat was inevitable for Nazi Germany. By late April 1945, as the Allies closed in on Berlin, the city had become a literal battlefield. You could hear artillery everywhere—day and night. Streets were rubble, and the once grand Reichstag was surrounded by Soviet forces. It was chaos.

Amelie Cheng

I can’t even imagine what it must have been like. Like, Berlin was basically being torn apart at every corner, right?

Ji-yeon Kim

Exactly. And right in the middle of all that destruction, in a bunker beneath the Chancellery, Hitler was still issuing orders. His world was falling apart, but he refused to see reality. His generals knew it was hopeless, but they couldn’t convince him to retreat or surrender.

Amelie Cheng

It’s wild... And so, what—he just stayed there, dug in?

Ji-yeon Kim

He did. He spent those final days in the Führerbunker, surrounded by his closest aides, like Joseph Goebbels, Eva Braun—

Amelie Cheng

—who he married, like, literally hours before they both died, right?

Ji-yeon Kim

Yes, exactly. April 29th. And by the next day, April 30th, Hitler had decided to take his own life. He used a cyanide capsule and shot himself. Eva Braun followed suit, taking cyanide as well. It was horrifically grim, but it marked the end of his control over Germany.

Amelie Cheng

But even with him gone, it didn’t mean the fighting stopped. Like, what about the others—Goebbels, Himmler? Were they still holding on to power?

Ji-yeon Kim

There was a scramble, yes. Himmler tried to negotiate with the Allies, which, honestly, was ridiculous. Goebbels? He decided to end things too, taking his entire family with him. It was just... desperation everywhere. No one knew who was really in charge, and Nazi Germany was collapsing from the inside.

Amelie Cheng

I mean, even their infrastructure, their communication lines—it all just disintegrated, right?

Ji-yeon Kim

Completely. And the psychological impact on those in the bunker—and really, throughout Germany—was harrowing. Survivors described an overwhelming sense of doom. One woman, a secretary trapped in the bunker, said the air felt like it was suffocating them, and not just because they were underground...

Amelie Cheng

—But because they knew it was all over. Like, everything they had fought to protect just... fell apart.

Ji-yeon Kim

Exactly. The dream, the propaganda—it all unraveled in those days. And as Berlin burned above them, the people below were left grappling with what had been done—and what they'd, knowingly or not, been a part of.

Ji-yeon Kim

And just days later, May 8, 1945—Victory in Europe Day, or VE Day—marked the end of it all. Nazi Germany surrendered unconditionally, bringing the war in Europe to an official close. But beyond just the military victory, it represented an end to unimaginable horrors and maybe even a first step toward accountability.

Amelie Cheng

But accountability wasn’t automatic, right? Like, it’s not like the world just... knew what to do next. How do you even start to reckon with crimes on... on that kind of scale?

Ji-yeon Kim

That’s where the Nuremberg Trials come in. For the first time, an international legal framework was established to address war crimes and crimes against humanity. Twenty-four top Nazi leaders were charged, and the trials began in November 1945 in the German city of Nuremberg.

Amelie Cheng

Wait—why there, though? Why Nuremberg specifically?

Ji-yeon Kim

Several reasons. The city was symbolic—it was where the Nazi rallies had been held, you know. But logistically, it was also one of the few places with a surviving courthouse large enough to host such a monumental trial.

Amelie Cheng

Okay, that makes sense. And these trials were, what, groundbreaking because they didn’t follow the rule of “to the victor, the spoils,” right? Like, this wasn’t just straight-up revenge?

Ji-yeon Kim

Exactly. It wasn’t about vengeance; it was about justice. The prosecutors painstakingly gathered evidence—documents, testimonies, even films—to show the world the true extent of Nazi atrocities. And the judges weren’t just from one nation; they represented the Allied powers—America, Britain, the Soviet Union, and France.

Amelie Cheng

And this set the precedent for how we deal with these crimes globally today, right?

Ji-yeon Kim

Exactly. The tribunal established key legal principles that endure to this day—like the idea that individuals, not just states, can be held accountable for war crimes. This eventually influenced the creation of institutions like the International Criminal Court.

Amelie Cheng

It’s hard to wrap your head around, though. I mean, trying to give justice for something so... massive. Like, can you even scale that?

Ji-yeon Kim

It’s a question people are still grappling with. But the trials were, you know, an essential start. Of the twenty-four defendants, twelve were sentenced to death, seven received prison terms, and three were acquitted. It wasn’t perfect justice—but it was, at least, accountability.

Amelie Cheng

It’s kind of eerie to think about, though. Those same principles... they’re still being tested today, with trials for war crimes in places like Myanmar or Ukraine.

Ji-yeon Kim

Absolutely. The echoes of Nuremberg resonate across every international court and tribunal convened since. It reminds us of the standards we’ve set for ourselves and the work still left to be done.

Amelie Cheng

I guess it’s that idea, right? Like, you can’t undo the past, but you can at least try to hold people accountable and, I don’t know, set a precedent for the future.

Ji-yeon Kim

Exactly. And perhaps that’s one of the most powerful legacies of VE Day and Nuremberg—that idea of collective responsibility, of ensuring the world understands, remembers, and acts differently moving forward.

Amelie Cheng

And on that note, wow. This has been such an intense journey, unraveling the rise, fall, and reckoning of Nazi Germany. Thanks for... for sharing all of this with me, Ji-yeon.

Ji-yeon Kim

Thank you too, Amelie. And thank you all for joining us for this episode of “History Now.” Let’s keep talking, questioning, and learning. Until next time, take care.