Watching Netflix's Latest True-Crime Series About Hitler's Crimes Against Democracy

A new show about a mediocre man destroying a democracy from within.

Top Nazi officials seated at the Nuremberg trials. (Public Domain)

Netflix is awash in true crime shows. There are tawdry documentaries about a TikTok cult, a con artist on Tinder, and the Ashley Madison data breach. The documentary "Hitler and the Nazis: Evil on Trial" by filmmaker Joe Berlinger is a six-part Netflix series about crimes against democracy.

Berlinger shows how Hitler destroyed a liberal democracy from within. Once Hitler was appointed as chancellor by President Paul von Hindenburg, he destroyed democratic institutions and ultimately made himself Germany's dictator. German conservatives, who had hoped to "box" him in, either stood by or were executed. Berlin-based American journalist William L. Shirer's granddaughter is quoted as saying that her grandfather warned that "democracy was important and always in danger."

The show feels timely as Donald Trump is running for president. He is not mentioned by name. However, the show's historians make references: Hitler is described as wanting to make "Germany great again" and the dictator's Alpine residence, Berghof, is referred to as "Hitler's Mar-a-Lago." 

Watching the show, I found that many of the historical events described have echoes in Trump's 2025 plans. After a New York Jury found him guilty of 34 felonies, Trump has spoken more about using the powers of the presidency to take revenge on people who he deems enemies. While Hitler executed his enemies, Trump plans to use the Justice Department, and he has reportedly brought up executing his rivals in private. The Nazi paramilitary, the SA, beat up their political opponents to restore order when street fights broke out in Weimar Germany; Trump and his allies have drafted plans to potentially invoke a 19th-century law to use the military against civil protests.