Nazi Hunters, National Geographic series, on DVD Oct 25

NAZI HUNTERS - the National Geographic series - 

coming to DVD on October 25

 

Gemini Award Winning: Best History Documentary Program, 

Best Direction in a Documentary Series

It's one of the greatest, true detective stories ever. Featuring eight spellbinding missions, Nazi Hunters tells how a select band of secret agents and avengers hunted down some of the most evil men in history...  And finally brought them to justice.

Intense, visceral, and narrated by real-life Nazi hunters, every episode tells the story of one electrifying mission. And, from Klaus Barbie's dramatic pursuit in Bolivia, to the audacious Mossad operation to kidnap Adolf Eichmann in Buenos Aires, recounts how the Nazis finally met their nemesis.

Nazi Hunters won the Gemini Award in Canada for Best History Documentary Program and Best Direction in a Documentary Series. The series launched on History Television in Canada on September 13, 2010 and ended on November 1, 2010. It also aired on The National Geographic Channel in the US and the History Channel in the UK.

Episode Guide 

Adolf Eichmann

By 1960, one of the world's most notorious Nazi war criminals, Adolf Eichmann, is living incognito with his family on the outskirts of Buenos Aires under the alias Ricardo Klement.  Known as the architect of Hitler's 'Final Solution' and directly culpable for the murder of six million Jews, the former Lieutenant Colonel of the SS is now himself a hunted man.

After receiving a tip that Eichmann has been spotted in Argentina, the Israeli secret service dispatches an agent to secretly take his photo. And upon confirming his identity, Mossad hatches an elaborate plan to kidnap Eichmann and smuggle him back to Israel to stand trial.Two weeks later, a team of undercover agents arrives in Argentina. They stake out Eichmann and his neighbourhood for days before coming up with a strategy ... But capturing him alive is only the first step. Surrounded by Nazi sympathizers, they must somehow get him out of the country. Can they pull off the extraordinary mission? 

Herbert Cukurs

Herbert Cukurs is an officer in the Latvian Air Force and his country's most celebrated pilot. But after the Nazi invasion, he joins forces with the fascists, earning the nickname The Hangman of Riga. The sadistic Cukurs snatches babies from their mothers, burns a synagogue full of people, and is responsible for the extermination of 30,000 Latvian Jews.

20 years later, Cukurs is living quietly in Sao Paolo, Brazil. That is, until the Nazi-hunting unit of the Israeli secret service tracks him down. Kicking off one of the most daring missions in its history, Mossad agents decide to execute Cukurs without a public trial, and send a message to Nazi war criminals the world over to fear for their lives.

Posing as a successful Austrian businessman and former Nazi lieutenant named 'Anton Kuenzle', an undercover Mossad spy makes contact with Cukurs and the master plan begins to unfold. Impressed by Kuenzle's apparent wealth and success, Cukurs readily admits he's a war criminal. But earning his trust and luring him out of the country prove more challenging. Can the cunning spy win over the greedy and paranoid Cukurs? And can he kill Cukurs before Cukurs sees through his disguise?

Klaus Barbie

As the Gestapo chief in Lyon, Klaus Barbie has the blood of 10,000 French Jews on his hands. But rather than being imprisoned after the war, he's instead hired by the CIA as an anti-communist agent. Eventually he escapes to Latin America where he works for dictators and drug barons and lives undetected for decades.

That is, until a middle class German housewife and mother vows to track him down. Married to a French Jew and living in Paris, Beate Klarsfeld and her husband Serge have dedicated their lives to bringing Nazi war criminals to justice. And, after successfully lobbying the German courts to reopen the case against Barbie, they mount a successful media campaign and track him down in Lima.

Hoping to convince local authorities to extradite him to Europe, Klarsfeld flies first to Peru, and when Barbie escapes to Bolivia, follows him to La Paz. She leads a series of powerful demonstrations, is herself imprisoned and eventually makes headlines around the world. But it will take another decade, a failed kidnapping plot and sweeping political change in Bolivia to bring the man known as the Butcher of Lyon to justice...

Erich Priebke

As one of the highest-ranking Gestapo officers in Rome during the war, Erich Priebke is responsible for one of Italy's worst atrocities - the Ardeatine Cave massacres. On a direct order from Adolf Hitler, Priebke orchestrates the assassination of 335 Italian civilians. And, after escaping to Argentina, eludes justice for 50 years until a high-profile team of American TV journalists stumbles onto his trail.

Researching how Nazi war criminals fled to post-war Argentina, the ABC news crew pores over the government's recently released archives in Buenos Aires.  After uncovering two names of interest, their trail eventually leads them to Bariloche, a German-speaking alpine resort town high in the Andes.

Incredibly, they find Erich Priebke listed in the local phone book. Once his identity is confirmed, they send in the TV crew to ambush and confront him with the facts. Can they capture him on camera? And will a mass murderer be brought to justice?