(projector rattles) (dog barks) (horn beeps) (dramatic music) - [Fey] I didn't know whether
these would be my last steps. - [Fey] The Third Reich was about to fall, but our situation was
more dangerous than ever. We were prisoners of the SS, hostages. - [Fey] We, the families of
the resistance against Hitler. - [Soldier] Von Hassell Pirzio-Biroli. - [Soldier] Goerdeler, Benigna. (speaks in foreign language) - [Interpreter] We always
hoped that we would survive, that we would be saved, but
we were always on the verge of saying our goodbyes. Always. - [Fey] It was a deep fall for all of us. A photograph from happier days, my sons, Corrado and Roberto, and I. They were taken from me. All that remained was a
photograph and the hope to survive to see them again one day. I am Fey von Hassell Pirzio-Biroli. This is the story of my odyssey, together with other prominent hostages
from all over Europe, (solemn music) an odyssey between death and freedom. (solemn music) The ordeal began in the summer of 1944. Fey von Hassell Pirzio-Biroli? - [Fey] Yes, I knew. (speaks in foreign language) My father, Ulrich von
Hassell, was a member of the resistance surrounding
Graf von Stauffenberg. (explosion roars) The assassination attempt, but Hitler survived. (guns click) (gun fires) It broke my heart. But I even encouraged the children. - [Fey] It made the parting
easier for the children, yet I despaired. (engine revs)
(dramatic music) The SS was on a manhunt. A few of the resistance
managed to elude them at first, like Carl and Fritz Goerdeler, the fathers of Benigna and Jutta. (speaks in foreign language) - [Interpreter] I was
at the window looking into the courtyard when,
just like in a film, trucks arrived and SS
soldiers jumped down, seemingly hundreds, though it
probably weren't that many. (speaks in foreign language) I can still see myself on the ladder, suddenly there was a man with a pistol. - Jutta and Benigna Goerdeler? - [Fey] These two girls' only
crime was being the children of Carl and Fritz Goerdeler. - [Fey] But from this day on, they too were prisoners of
kin, as the SS called us. - The prisoners of kin
were principally members of the families of those who
had been involved in the plot, brothers, mothers,
fathers, sisters, children. A lot of children were
taken as prisoners of kin. And one of the big intriguing
questions, of course, is what did Himmler propose to do with these prisoners of kin? - [Narrator] Heinrich Himmler, ruler over the concentration
concentration camps of the Black Order, the SS. (solemn music) After the assassination attempt on Hitler, his troops become the
strongest force in Germany. The prisoners' lives are in his hands. - In Himmler's mind, the
scenario that was playing out was that he would use these
hostages to negotiate with the Western powers
for something or other. It was never quite clear
what he had in mind at any given moment,
but he would use these as a bargaining tool. But if that failed, these people would die. (ominous music) - [Fey] A time of mortal fear for myself, for Benigna Goerdeler and
her relatives, for many more. (lock clicks) (somber music) (speaks in foreign language) - [Interpreter] I was 14 and
thought my life had ended. It's something terrible. I turned 15 in a prison cell on July the 31st, the
same day as my father. I cried terribly. I just cried. (Benigna sobs) (guns fire)
(explosions roar) - [Narrator] In the winter of 1944, the Red Army begins its
assault on the German Reich. The prisoners are transported
from prison to prison, camp to camp, always a step
ahead of the approaching front. (planes whir) In early 1945, the British
and the Americans pushed deep into the Third Reich from the west. The war will be over soon. (solemn music) (dog barks) - [Fey] But would we live to see it? (dogs barking) - [Fey] Ingeborg Schroder
and her three children were also among us. (dog barks) - [Soldier] Ingeborg Schroder. - [Soldier] Harring Schroder. - Hans-Dietrich Schroder. - [Soldier] Sybille-Maria Schroder. - [Fey] Seeing her
children broke my heart. Their father, a military chaplain, was a Soviet prisoner
of war and had called for an end of the war,
in a radio broadcast. - [Fey] Obersturmführer Edgar
Stiller, was our jailer. - [Fey] He assigned us to the medical wing in the SS barracks of the
Dachau Concentration Camp. (speaks in foreign language) - [Interpreter] We were always secluded in the special barracks. We heard the terrible shouting and the terrible barking of the dogs. (speaks in foreign language) - [Interpreter] We had
no news about our father, whether he was in prison
or whether he had made it. We were purposely kept in the dark. I always shared a room
with my cousin, Jutta. That was incredibly important at the time. We were together and would
eventually die together. - Stiller had treated
us decently until now. So I plucked up my courage. (solemn music) - [Fey] Now I had nothing left. But I swore to myself to persevere for my two sons and for
the children of the others. (dog barks) - [Narrator] Dachau Concentration Camp becomes the gathering site
for many prisoners of the SS. Among them, a group of
British prisoners of war, pilots of the Royal Air Force. ♪ And white with Snow] ♪ ♪ I'll be here ♪ - [Bertram] We'd been
prisoners for five years now, my friend, Wings Day, and I. 12 escape attempts and we'd
always been recaptured. (dogs barking) (dog growls)
(Bertram screams) - [Bertram] Most of my
comrades were executed against international conventions. - [Bertram] Us, they left
alive, for whichever reason. I'm Lieutenant Bertram
James, called Jimmy, determined to escape again
at the next opportunity. - [Bertram] Our reception
in Dachau bode ill for us. (speaks in foreign language) - [Bertram] And so we became acquainted with the so-called special
prisoners of the SS. - [Bertram] And they really were special. Colonel von Bonin, for instance. - Well, Colonel von Bonin stands
out amongst the prisoners, because he's wearing
full colonel's uniform of the Wehrmacht. Why is a full colonel of Wehrmacht amongst this group of special prisoners? Well, the answer is he'd
fallen foul of Hitler. He had refused one of
Hitler's more absurd orders, of which, of course, there were legion. For that, he was taken by the SS and becomes one of the special prisoners. - Easy, Jimmy. (solemn music)
(footsteps clack) - [Bertram] Really quite special. (door clacks) Now we were imprisoned with people whose faces we only knew from the papers. - The special prisoners were actually very important persons. They were generals. They were prime ministers
and religious leaders, all sorts of people. Today, you would just call
them plain celebrities. That's what you would actually call them. (dramatic music) - [Narrator] For instance, Leon Blum, a former French premier
and of Jewish descent. Pastor Niemoller, a courageous theologist and internationally
renowned opponent of Hitler. Kurt Schuschnigg, chancellor of Austria. - [Narrator] Until the Anschluss, from then on, he too was imprisoned. Hitler's personal prisoner, (solemn music) - Again, the idea was we need
to keep these people alive. These are hostages. They can be used for bargaining chips with the Allies. - They did live in a vacuum. They believed that every day for the last couple of
weeks of April, 1945, really could be their last. I mean, let's not forget that several of the special prisoners
had already been executed. (gun clicks) (gun fires) - [Narrator] Georg Elser, he's murdered in the Dachau Concentration
Camp shortly before the arrival of the British prisoners. In 1939, Elser had tried to
eliminate Hitler with a bomb. The written order from Berlin says to have Elser murdered inconspicuously and make it look as if
he had become the victim of an Allied attack. - He was actually executed as some of the special prisoners were
being brought into Dachau. We don't know the reason why that was. It may have been people
trying to get even, even up old scores. We don't know. It could even have been
something as simple as sort of needing more accommodation for more important people. (guards yelling)
(dogs barking) - Ooh! (singing in foreign language) - [Fey] Isa Vermehren, a fellow prisoner, she was a famous cabaret artist whose songs did not sit
well with the Nazis. Now she was the sunshine
for our little ones. (singing in foreign language) But the horror still registered. Every day, people died in
the concentration camps, of fatigue, of sicknesses,
or they were murdered. (dogs barking) (speaks in foreign language) - [Interpreter] We once
saw a line of prisoners. And at the end, I guess, corpses were being dragged along by four people. And a great, big, fat
SS man shouted at us, "Look away, it's none of your business!" It was terrible. I couldn't do anything. They were completely helpless. - [Narrator] A few days earlier, in the Flossenburg concentration camp, Hans-Dietrich Schroder
witnesses the special prisoner, Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer,
being taken away for execution. (radio beeps) He's hanged on April the 9th. The SS commander alerts
Berlin via radio transmission, "Assignment executed as ordered." (radio beeps) (speaks in foreign language) - [Interpreter] I can clearly recall two SS men storming upstairs, calling, "Bonhoeffer, step out!" The door to our room was opened. I don't remember him coming down. At the time, I didn't know
what the name Bonhoeffer meant. - [Fey] Death was always
only a few meters away. (singing in foreign language) (alarm wails) (dramatic music) - [Bertram] Our comrades in the Royal and US Air Force ruled
the skies over Germany, and repeatedly flew over the camp. They refrained from bombing it, not so however the SS henchmen. (explosions pop) - They will execute us then hand us over. - [Benigna] Jutta! (plane whirs) (speaks in foreign language) - [Interpreter] Every time
we heard artillery fire, we hoped this was it, a liberation. But we were always transported
away from the front. - Get up, get up! (speaks in foreign language) - [Interpreter] We were
kept in the dark on purpose. Feelings of fear, uncertainty and helplessness were
our constant companions. (dog barking) - [Fey] Then we were moved again
in the middle of the night. We were horrified when we
saw the normal prisoners. Buses were waiting for us,
the valued objects of the SS. (speaks in foreign language) - [Interpreter] When we saw the men with machine guns in the bus, I suddenly lost all my will and resolve to withstand, even inwardly. I thought, "Just get it over with." (solemn music) (speaks in foreign language) - [Interpreter] It was terrible. The mass of prisoners didn't walk, they shuffled along, so tired. And with their last remaining
strength, they shuffled. (speaks in foreign language) The awful sound of the wooden clogs, seemingly endless, it was
half-an-hour or an hour. I can't say, but it was
a horrifying experience. That was when I truly felt
the unbelievable terror and power these SS men held over people. (solemn music) - [Narrator] What the prisoners witnessed at the time is referred to as
the Dachau Death March today. (speaks in foreign language) - [Interpreter] In total,
more than 6,000 prisoners, deemed fit to walk and work,
were marched southwards with the intention of entrenching there, putting them to work. As many succumbed during this transport, the operation is today called
the Dachau Death March. Prisoners were already dying of fatigue on the parade grounds before the camp clerk could
even write down their names. Those too weak, those who
collapsed, were ruthlessly shot. The exact number is unknown, but it was surely more than a thousand. (solemn music) - [Fey] It was unreal. Like a grotesque dream,
a nightmare come to life. - [Fey] It was true. We headed towards the
Alps, as we could see from the town signs we
passed in the darkness. (telegraph beeps) - [Narrator] What they do not know, the US intelligence agency,
OSS, is observing the situation. For months, alarming reports
are wired to Washington, reports of an SS Alpine fortress. - It was the very fact that the Bavarian and Austrian mountains seemed
to lend themselves so well to guerrilla warfare
that this horrible idea, because it represented a nightmare for Allied military strategists, that this horrible idea
started to gain currency. (planes whir) - [Narrator] The Allied
strategists' nightmare, a fortified area between
Wiener Neustadt and Lake Como, filled with fanatical
members of the Waffen-SS and the best remaining German armaments, jet fighters and V2 rockets. - The Allies decided to
do was to be prudent, to assume, given Hitler's nature, given the fanaticism
of the SS and the fact the SS probably controlled
the German State by then, to prepare for the worst. The Alpine reduit was the worst. It was the worst-case scenario
that anyone could imagine, and they felt they had to prepare for it. (ominous music) - [Narrator] A new Führerbunker
is being constructed for Himmler in Hallein, Austria, by slave laborers from the camps. Underground factories for jet fighters and rockets are cut into the mountains. (solemn music) And this so-called Alpine fortress is now the hostages' destination. - This is really the last area in which these hostages can be placed where they're not imminently going to fall into Allied hands. - [Narrator] American
intelligence also learns of the hostages transport into the Alps and fears the worst. - The Allies were afraid of what the hostages
themselves were afraid of, that there would be a massacre. They were fearing that
these prominent people, Schuschnigg and all these people, these family members of the resistance, there'd be a mass shooting
and a mass killing. I think that's what. They would simply be mown down and shot. - And there were discussions at General Alexander's headquarters, regarding the possibility
of sending in paratroops to liberate these people. But they didn't know where they were at that particular time. (suspenseful music) (engines rev) - [Fey] We drove all
night, and in the morning of April the 27th, we reached Innsbruck. Here, the SS had taken away my boys, seemingly an eternity ago. We drove into a camp, Innsbruck Reichenau. (suspenseful music) (horn honks) - [Bertram] We had already
arrived a few days earlier and watched our bombers
on route to Brenner Pass to give the Germans hell. And we made acquaintance
with a sadistic wretch, Untersturmführer Ernst Bader of the SD, the SS security service. (ominous music) - [Bertram] He and his men were the type who would execute us
without batting an eyelid. (Ernst yells) (speaks in foreign language) - This contingent of SD men,
they are there basically to shoot these people
when the order comes. These are the enforcers
of the SS, if you like. In fact, the orders were there. Shoot them if it looks like they're going to fall into Allied hands. - [Bertram] And then the buses
with the women and children of the resistance arrived,
the prisoners of kin, in the care of
Obersturmführer Edgar Stiller. (men whistle) (dramatic music) - Why don't we see to it that
we get out of this hellhole as soon as possible, eh? - When these prisoners
were talking or conversing with the SD, they had to be
very careful and not look or stare at somebody too much. Something like that could've
resulted in instant execution. They didn't know. (solemn music) - [Fey] The barracks they
assigned to us were filthy, louse-ridden and cramped. - Lieutenant Bertram
James, Royal Air Force. - [Fey] Gentlemen, a welcome change, but something was going on here. - So let's say this is Innsbruck, and here, roughly, is Milan. Now the Americans have probably made it to Milan already and maybe even Genoa. So this would be our route. (soldiers yell)
(explosions pop) - [Narrator] In the spring of 1945, the Allies begin their crucial
defensive in Northern Italy. Most of the German units
retreat to the north, towards the Alps in South
Tyrol, the same place where the SS is bringing the hostages. (speaks in foreign language) - [Interpreter] In the
last days of the war, the situation in South
Tyrol was very complex, because there were tens of thousands of German soldiers willing to fight. (speaks in foreign language) While the Allies moved north to join up with those Allied troops
who were pushing southwards through Germany and Austria. (speaks in foreign language) And at the same time,
Italian partisan groups in the region tried to conquer strategically
important positions. So it was a very confusing
and difficult situation. - Three days over the Brenner Pass. Now that's not gonna-- - What do you mean we? - [Bertram] This Italian partisan general was not exactly my cup of tea. - General Garibaldi is a name, of course. First and foremost, he's a name. He's the grandson of the
great Giuseppe Garibaldi, the liberator of Italy
in the 19th century. And that's one reason why I think he'd been
taken special prisoner by the SS, alongside
all the other big names. He could be used as a hostage. - It's your choice. (solemn music) - [Bertram] What to make
of this man, I didn't know. Having him and Italian partisan groups as allies could have its benefits. We would cross areas
in which they operated. South Tyrol, that much
Obersturmführer Stiller had revealed. (dramatic music) (Ernst sighs) - [Fey] On the night of April the 27th, Stiller hustled us back into the buses. (siren wails) - That's about enough to liquidate us all. (speaks in foreign language) - [Harry] Garibaldi was right. - [Bertram] Is he? - We stand a better chance
if he comes with us. (speaks in foreign language) - Perhaps, but I don't trust him. (soldiers yelling)
(siren wails) - [Fey] I was practically
at the end of my rope and had to keep telling
myself don't give up. Vera von Schuschnigg,
with her little Sissy, sat in front of me. She had been born in a concentration camp. (solemn music) (engines hum) (planes whir) - [Interpreter] The
vehicles had narrow slits in the headlights. But a pilot can still see
these clearly from above, especially in a whole column of vehicles. (planes whir) (suspenseful music) (engine revs) (suspenseful music) (speaks in foreign language) - [Interpreter] My mother
was a wonderful storyteller. She always told me stories in order to distract me so that I would get away from my ideas, the shots I might have heard, so that I could let it all go. (speaks in foreign language) - [Interpreter] Mother tried
very hard to keep everything that hinted at danger as far away from us as possible and to keep us calm. (speaks in foreign language) - [Interpreter] It must
have been very difficult and demanding for my mother. She always had a shoulder
for me to lean on, always. (suspenseful music) (engines hum) - [Bertram] Our convoy
labored up the mountain roads to the Brenner Pass. - Not the best spot for a break. - We're sittin' ducks here. (dramatic music) - That is most likely their plan. (suspenseful music) - [Bertram] There couldn't be a more dangerous spot to hold. - The Brenner Pass was the
principal route, land route, between Northern Italy and the Reich, and Austria and the Third Reich. And throughout the Second World War, it had been very, very important. It had been heavily bombed, and even in these last
days, it was being bombed to stop supplies running between the north and the south essentially. (ominous music) Oh. (door clicks) - So I reckon they're banking on our bombers raking
the Brenner Pass again and flattening us. Their hand grenades will
take care of the rest. - [Bogislaw] It doesn't make sense. - [Bogislaw] Captain. - Captain. Wings. - Jimmy? James. (solemn music) - So, I reckon, they're
banking on our bombers breaking the Brenner Pass
again and flattening us and their hand grenades
will take care of the rest. - [Jimmy Narrator] It
would be a cruel joke if our own men sent us to our deaths. But was that really the plan
of the SS, as Wings thought? - Captain. Wings. - [Fey Narrator] The
sight of the many children among us reminded me of my
boys, whom they'd taken from me. It pained my heart. - Wings. - Jimmy. (sighs) James. - [Male Narrator] This
might be our only chance but at what cost? - Let it go, Wings. - Let's not give him a reason. (dramatic, emotional music) - [Jimmy Narrator] I felt bad for disappointing my friend, Wings Day, but the SS surely would take vengeance on the other prisoners if we fled now. (howling wind) - [Fey Narrator] Real sleep
was inconceivable that night. The SS guards had
withdrawn, was it a trap? Were they waiting for an
escape attempt to do us in? Many of us feared the worst. In the early morning
hours, they reappeared. - [Jimmy Narrator] We
drove down the Brenner Pass into South Tyrol, Italy's
German-speaking province, and then we realized that we had company. Vehicles were following us. - Garibaldi's people are behind us, it was whispered back
and forth in the bus. The SS weren't allowed to hear it. - [Jimmy Narrator] Not military vehicles. - [Jimmy Narrator]
Possibly Italian partisans looking for a German target. - [Jimmy Narrator] What
had Stiller told Bader about our conversation? Hopefully I hadn't made a grave mistake. - Obersturmführer Bader was particularly feared
by their special prisoners because he was a member of the SD, this unit which was renowned, if you like, for its brutality, particularly
at that stage in the war and he was the one who,
actually, would've executed, and said so, the special
prisoners at the drop of a hat. (intense, dramatic music) - [Fey Narrator] At dawn, we entered the idyllic Puster Valley. Just outside the small town of Niederdorf, or Villabassa in Italian, Stiller ordered the convoy to halt. - [Jimmy Narrator] Our
two transport leaders seemed at a loss and had
very different opinions. - [Jimmy Narrator] What was going on? They simply disappeared, with us sitting cluelessly in this Alpine valley. (dramatic orchestra music) - [Male Narrator] 700
kilometers to the North, a sector of the Third Reich is crumbling. The Red Army has broken
through to Berlin and Italy. At the Reich's security head office, the SS central of power has
practically ceased to exist. - The biggest thing, of course, was that their communications broke down and so nobody could get in
touch with anybody else. Of course, it was practically
impossible for couriers to chance it from Berlin at that time, the odd airplane might have gotten through but communications as we know
them had totally broken down, so it was the end for the SS, effectively, and there was no control and
no mechanism of control left. (intense, dramatic music) - [Male Narrator] Many
of the SS leadership flee into the Alps. Amongst them, Erntz
Kaltenbrunner, Himmler's Deputy, and highest direct superior
of Stiller and Bader. He has absconded to Altaussee
in the Salzkammergut where his lover waits for him. - Kaltenbrunner was hoping to
use these special prisoners as a bargaining chip for
his own personal purposes, rather than perhaps for the Nazi state, just to save his own life, shall we say. He was aware of the situation
regarding the hostages but he didn't really know where they were. - [Fey Narrator] We sat
in our buses for hours. Nothing happened. The tension rose steadily. - We always expected some gruesome acts and that fed our anxiety, everybody wondering what
terrible thing could happen. Our mother said, "Don't leave the bus." We were afraid and if anyone
wondered into the forest they would be shot. - [Jimmy Narrator] Yes, we were alarmed. What were our captors doing in Niederdorf? Were they wiring for the
order to finally gun us down? (accordion playing) - [Jimmy Narrator] Isa
Vermehren, the cabaret artist and her accordion attempted
to keep the mood from tipping. - Isa Vermehren began distracting us with her accordion and beautiful songs. (humming) - She didn't raise my moral. For others, maybe, but
for me it seemed improper. I wasn't in the mood. - [Fey Narrator] I didn't
want to hurt Isa's feelings but I wasn't in the mood, either. ♪ Up to mighty London ♪ ♪ Came an Irishman one day ♪ ♪ As the streets are paved with gold ♪ ♪ Sure, everyone was gay ♪ ♪ Singing songs of Piccadilly ♪ ♪ Strand and Leicester Square ♪ ♪ Till Paddy got excited ♪ ♪ Then he shouted to them there ♪ ♪ It's a long way to Tipperary ♪ ♪ It's a long way to go ♪ ♪ It's a long way to Tipperary ♪ ♪ To the sweetest girl I know ♪ - They were just helpless
attempts to reduce the tragedy of the situation, nothing more. - I remember Leon Blume spotted croissants growing by the road and
calling, "Croissant, croissant!" Meaning we could pick and eat it. We hadn't eaten since Reichenau. - [Jimmy Narrator] And
then Colonel von Bonin, still in his Wehrmacht
uniform, took the initiative. - We knew, of course, what we were risking as we left the buses but we felt this could be our chance. - Now or never, that was
our feeling as we went. All or nothing was our motto. - We were suddenly less afraid,
it's hard to put into words. Either you do something or you don't. (intense music) - I know that I was right
behind Bonin and he said, "Go to the center of town,
no one will shoot you there." - We sat down on the market square and immediately told everyone who we were. (dramatic music) - We mentioned immediately
and said our names, we felt this was our safety
because that was our fear, we were being abducted
and nobody knew where. - He's unpredictable, he's
completely unpredictable, I mean, he could have woken up one day, gotten out of the wrong
side of the bed, as they say and thought, "I'm just
going to shoot these people. "I'm fed up with them,
I'm gonna kill them." - [Fey Narrator] This
man and his SD henchmen would murder us at the first opportunity, that much was now clear. (calming piano music) But first, we were relieved. Niederdorf's town hall was
not the Waldorf Astoria but nothing could have been
better than a straw bed or a mattress, at that moment. And, finally, we could eat. It was touching how the
townsfolk took care of us. - We were pretty impressed by
this heartfelt hospitality. We thanked the Lord for
such a warm reception. (calming piano music) - [Jimmy Narrator] For the moment, the SS had lost control over us. The Italian partisan
general, Sante Garibaldi, took advantage of the
situation and managed to flee and contact the partisans
that had followed us. He tried to take command,
which didn't prove easy, even if these fighters called
themselves Garibaldini. - Sante Garibaldi is the grandson of the Italian National
Hero, Giuseppe Garibaldi but he has no direct connections
to the partisan group, the Garibaldini. - [Male Narrator] The Garibaldini could be recognized by their red scarves. They're politically left,
many of them communists. There are other partisan
groups covering the whole, political spectrum, all
with one common goal: To throw the Germans out of Italy. - During the first phase, the partisans, including the Garibaldini,
fought a classic guerrilla war. But as of the Fall of 1944,
they had enough military prowess to conduct more complex
military operations against the German troops
and against the units of the Italian fascists. - [Jimmy Narrator] Sante Garibaldi's goal was to free the hostages
with the help of these men. - This was a case of Garibaldi trying to live up to, in a way, the image of his grandfather
and be a liberator again and prove that he was a
major partisan leader, mobilize the partisans of the area and launch some kind of attack
to liberate the hostages. - [Jimmy Narrator] What was next on the evening of April the
28th, that was anyone's guess but for the moment we were happy. - Well, this is what
I'd call an improvement. - Certainly is, Wings. - The lap of luxury, Jimmy. - Well.
- What an improvement. - Quite. (relaxing piano music) - [Fey Narrator] But the night
was anything but peaceful. - [Jimmy Narrator] The SS
drank themselves into a rage, a dangerous situation. Had Stiller and Bader
reached their superiors and gotten the go for our murder? Apparently not. Otherwise, we would
probably no longer be alive. We were like tinder,
only a spark was needed, as darkness fell on the
rooftops of Niederdorf. - The fact that the officers
in charge of the hostages were out of contact with Berlin
or their chain of command, made the position of the
hostages even more dangerous because it would just take
the whim of either Stiller or Bader to have these people shot, so I think those last two
or three days are really, really dangerous, actually. - [Male Narrator] The next
day, April the 29th, 1945, the US Army frees the
Dachau concentration camp and discovers its horrors. Half-dead prisoners,
shipped here by the SS from the North and the East, in the last days before the liberation. A whole train-full of corpses. Speechless terror. - The general reaction was of
complete and total surprise and horror, very often
followed by immediate reactions of let's kill the people involved in this. There are cases of Americans shooting concentration camp guards
in the heat of the moment, having come across these horrors. Sometimes, of course, the
guards are pointed out by prisoners, at other times
they would just round them up. I think at Dachau there are
certainly documented cases of shootings of concentration camp guards by American-occupying forces. - [Male Narrator] In
court, members of the SS would later relay the
plan to use flamethrowers to torch the entire camp. - [Fey Narrator] The 29th
of April, 1945 was a Sunday. Stiller allowed us
prisoners a church service. - [Fey Narrator] Colonel
von Bonin had escaped from the guards, he was
looking for a Wehrmacht office. (intense music) - [Male Narrator] On April the 30th, the US Army takes Munich. Hitler's career began
here, now it was over. Hitler commits suicide on the same day. Before that, he dismisses Heinrich Himmler due to his secret negotiations
with the Allied Powers. The murderous game is up. - [Jimmy Narrator] Now,
that was a spectacle. The SS realized that it
was better to make off. - Heil, Hitler. - [Fey Narrator] The
photograph of my boys. I cannot describe how I
felt as I held it again. And the SS actually left
Niederdorf without a shot fired. It seemed a miracle. - Our mortal fear was gone because we new the SS signified death and the Wehrmacht could mean life. - [Jimmy Narrator] Under the protection of the German Wehrmacht. That sounded strange to my ears. For five years, Wings and I
had tried to flee this gang, but in this case... - [Fey Narrator] We
welcome the first of May at an almost beautifully
unreal place in the mountains. The luxurious hotel at Lake
Prags, still in hibernation. (emotional, uplifting piano music) - It was my first time in a hotel. It was a really special feeling. And I will never forget
the time that followed. It was an unforgettable
highlight in my life. - [Fey Narrator] We had
been given new life, still, I couldn't cherish it properly. I mourned my father whom
the Nazi's had hanged and my frantic worry about
my two boys remained. Were they still alive? Where were they? - Our mother and I were
told that our father was no longer alive,
murdered on a butcher's hook. I caught my mother and
we embraced and we cried. That is how I experienced
my father's death. - [Male Narrator] Benigna's
father, Carl Goerdeler is sentenced to death in February, 1945. This is the last image of him. His brother, Fritz, Jutta's father, is executed a few weeks later. - [Jimmy Narrator] And
then the radio brought us the news we'd all been waiting for. (cheering and applauding) - [Male Narrator] On this second of May, Vietinghoff and the SS in Italy surrender. The Italian dictator,
Mussolini, and his lover are lynched a few days earlier. The war in Italy is over, one week ahead of the rest of Europe. The US Army advances unhindered
over the Brenner Pass. Only a few fanatical SS men and diluted Hitler Youths resist. On May, the third, the Americans take
Innsbruk without a fight. (cheering and applauding) - The American army had
arrived on the doorstep and the surrender of the
German forces in Italy meant, of course, this was the
end of the nightmare for the Allies of the Alpine
Fortress or the Alpine Redoubt, or whatever name we give it,
that nightmare was finally over for once and for all. - [Jimmy Narrator] On May, the fourth, the first US divisions reached Lake Prags. There it was, our
much-longed-for day of freedom. But after all the years of captivity, it was difficult to grasp reality. The American press bore down on us. The very pensive Colonel von Bonin, little Sissy Schuschnigg
and her mother, Vera, they were the journalists' darlings, Pastor Niemoller with his pipe, and the Schroder family. - Even now, I have a fundamentally
positive relationship with Americans, stemming from this side. I experienced them as saviors. - [Jimmy Narrator] Colonel
von Bonin was arrested, like all German soldiers here. - Best of luck. - [Jimmy Narrator] I knew that, even though we had gone through so much, hate wouldn't rule my heart. - [Male Narrator] The US Army brings the freed hostages to Naples. Leon Blume and his wife. Kurt von Schuschnigg talking to an American
and Pastor Niemoller. Alexander von Stauffenberg,
a brother of the conspirator. Many of the former prisoners are brought to the Italian island of
Capri and interned there. The Americans want to be sure
who they have just liberated. The children, however, have a grand time. - Capri was like a holiday for me, filled with trees and
beautiful experiences. A doorbell range and Sissy came. Sometimes we visited her
with an American taxi and we always had time to play. The Southern sun... The world was all right. - [Fey Narrator] But not for me. I couldn't appreciate the island's beauty, I only thought of my boys. We were searching for them. Where were they, in this
destroyed, murderous world? (somber, unsettling music) And it bordered on a miracle, but my mother actually
found them in an orphanage. (uplifting music) One of the happiest moments of my life. - I remember it perfectly... There was no pain. My mother's laughter and the walk we took immediately around the
house with my grandmother. It was a happy day,
that's all I can remember, thanks to my mother. - [Fey Narrator] Reunited. But something remained from those days. - For 55 years I couldn't speak about it. I believe us children should've received psychotherapy after 1945. It was hard to grasp. At the time, no one wanted
to speak about what happened. My father always said, "Let's
start with a clean slate." Many people said, "We
want to forget everything "and start anew in 1945." (reflective, dramatic orchestral music)
