Michael Bideller

The documentary focuses on the German Wehrmacht’s invasion of Poland and the Soviet Union during World War II and its consequences for the German military. On June 22, 1941, “Operation Barbarossa” marked the start of a war of annihilation that claimed millions of lives. Hitler and his generals planned the destruction of the Soviet Union and its population. The Wehrmacht supported SS Einsatzgruppen in mass shootings and committed numerous war crimes. The anticipated quick victory failed to materialize due to a lack of reserves and alternative strategies, leading to the operation’s failure. Spiegel-TV author Nina Adler presents these events using previously unseen amateur footage from German soldiers and rare archival material from Russia. Expert interviews, including with military historian Rolf-Dieter Müller and authors Sönke Neitzel and Harald Welzer, round out the documentary and shed light on a war that forever changed the image of the Germans.

Polizeiruf 110 is a long-running German language detective television series. The first episode was broadcast 27 June 1971 in the German Democratic Republic, and after the dissolution of Fernsehen der DDR the series was picked up by ARD. It was originally created as a counterpart to the West German series Tatort, and quickly became a public favorite.