Hermann Hackmann: Sadistic Nazi Camp Officer Sentenced to Death by the SS

The Michniów massacre was one of the most notorious crimes committed against Polish civilians during the German occupation. Over two days in July 1943, German forces killed 204 inhabitants of the village—including 48 children—and burned much of Michniów to the ground. The village was known for supporting the Polish resistance and providing assistance to underground forces. In retaliation, German authorities marked Michniów for a so-called “pacification operation” intended to punish its inhabitants and intimidate other communities suspected of helping the resistance. SS personnel, German gendarmes, and collaborators descended on the village on 12–13 July 1943. A total of 102 men, 54 women, and 48 children were killed. Entire families perished, some of them burned alive inside buildings. Among the victims was a newborn child who had been baptized only hours earlier. Homes were set on fire, property and livestock were seized, and surviving inhabitants were hunted down, arrested, or deported. Some were eventually sent to Auschwitz concentration camp. Rather than ending resistance activity, the destruction of Michniów became a powerful symbol of the terror inflicted on Polish civilians for supporting the underground. After the Second World War, several perpetrators faced justice. Otto Büssig, Julius Hein, and SS-Brigadeführer Herbert Böttcher were among those sentenced to death, while investigations and prosecutions of other participants continued for decades. This documentary reconstructs the Michniów massacre, the German campaign against villages supporting the Polish resistance, and the fate of the perpetrators. Today, the Mausoleum of the Martyrdom of Polish Villages at Michniów preserves the memory of the victims and represents hundreds of Polish communities subjected to German reprisals and destruction. This episode is part of the series Massacres of Civilians During World War II. Watch the full documentary and explore hundreds of historical films at: WorldHistory.tv.

Jan Bonekamp was a Dutch communist resistance fighter who took increasingly dangerous action against the German occupation, eventually participating in armed attacks against Dutch collaborators working with the Nazi regime. Born in Amsterdam in 1914, Bonekamp was a metalworker who became involved in the resistance soon after Nazi Germany invaded the Netherlands on 10 May 1940. The occupation authorities established a civil administration under Reich Commissioner Arthur Seyss-Inquart and gradually introduced measures that stripped Dutch Jews of their rights, property, and freedom. Bonekamp began his resistance activities by putting up posters, distributing illegal newspapers and leaflets, and raising money for people forced into hiding. As German repression intensified and the deportation of Dutch Jews began in 1942, his activities became increasingly militant. Between 1942 and 1944, approximately 107,000 Jews were deported from the Netherlands, primarily to Auschwitz and Sobibor. Only a small fraction survived. Thousands of others attempted to escape deportation by going into hiding, often relying on resistance networks and ordinary Dutch citizens willing to risk their lives to help them. Bonekamp eventually joined armed resistance and participated in attacks against Dutch collaborators whose activities supported the German occupation. His actions placed him among the resistance fighters who moved beyond underground publications and assistance to those in hiding and began directly targeting individuals connected to Nazi repression. This documentary explores Jan Bonekamp’s transformation from an Amsterdam metalworker into an armed resistance fighter, his struggle against the German occupation, and the dangerous campaign against Dutch collaborators that ultimately placed his own life at risk. This episode is part of the series The Anti-Fascist Heroes. Watch the full documentary and explore hundreds of historical films at: WorldHistory.tv.

Evelina Merová, born Evelina Landová in Prague, survived Theresienstadt, Auschwitz-Birkenau, Josef Mengele’s selection, forced labour, and the loss of almost her entire family during the Holocaust. Only twelve years old when she was deported to the Theresienstadt Ghetto in 1942, Evelina spent eighteen months there before being transported with her parents to Auschwitz-Birkenau in December 1943. Instead of being immediately murdered, the family was imprisoned in the so-called Theresienstadt family camp, a special section of Birkenau. Life there was defined by hunger, disease, overcrowding, exhausting roll calls, and the constant threat of death. Evelina became prisoner number 71,266. During the day, children gathered in the Children’s Block associated with Fredy Hirsch, where attempts were made to preserve education, discipline, hygiene, and a small measure of normality. On 8 March 1944, nearly 3,800 prisoners from an earlier transport from Theresienstadt were murdered in the gas chambers. Fredy Hirsch also died that day. Evelina’s father died only weeks later, while her sister Lisa and her infant son would later be deported to Auschwitz and murdered. When Josef Mengele conducted a selection of prisoners from Evelina’s transport, the young girl claimed to be sixteen years old and described herself as a gardener. She passed the selection—a moment that helped save her life. Evelina and her mother were subsequently transported to Stutthof and then to the Gutowo subcamp, where starvation, disease, and forced labour continued to take a devastating toll. Her mother died in November 1944, leaving Evelina to survive with the help of fellow prisoners. Liberated by the Red Army in January 1945, Evelina was later adopted by a Soviet doctor and rebuilt her life under the name Evelina Merová. She became a scholar, mother, and important witness to the Holocaust before her death in February 2024 at the age of 93. This documentary concludes Evelina Merová’s extraordinary story of persecution, loss, survival, and life after the Holocaust. This episode is part of the series Survivors of the Holocaust and Nazi Persecution. Watch the full documentary and explore hundreds of historical films at: WorldHistory.tv.

Evelina Merová was a Czech Jewish girl whose childhood in Prague was destroyed by Nazi persecution before she was deported first to Theresienstadt and later to Auschwitz. Born Evelina Landová on Christmas Day 1930, she grew up in a loving and comfortable home surrounded by family, school, and friends. But after Nazi Germany occupied the Czech lands in March 1939, the Landas were gradually stripped of their rights, property, and freedom. Their business was seized, bank accounts were frozen, and the family was forced from their apartment. Evelina watched as anti-Jewish regulations increasingly controlled everyday life. Jews were excluded from parks, libraries, cafés, cinemas, schools, and other parts of public life. In 1941, she was forced to wear the Yellow Star. At Prague’s Hagibor sports ground, one of the last places where Jewish children could gather, Evelina encountered Fredy Hirsch, the remarkable youth leader who organized physical activities and encouraged children to maintain their dignity and strength despite worsening persecution. On 2 July 1942, Evelina and her parents were deported to the Theresienstadt ghetto. There, she was placed in Room 28 of the girls’ home L 410, where education, friendship, music, and solidarity created what she later remembered as a “beam of light” amid hunger, overcrowding, disease, and constant fear of deportation. But Theresienstadt was only another stage in Evelina’s ordeal. As transports continued eastward, she would eventually face Auschwitz and the destruction of much of the world she had known. This documentary tells the remarkable story of Evelina Merová, from her childhood in Prague through Nazi persecution, Theresienstadt, Auschwitz, and her struggle to survive the Holocaust. This episode is part of the series Survivors of the Holocaust and Nazi Persecution. Watch the full documentary and explore hundreds of historical films at: WorldHistory.tv.

Coco Chanel became one of the most influential figures in fashion history, but her connections to German intelligence during the occupation of France remain among the most controversial aspects of her extraordinary life. Born into poverty, Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel overcame a difficult childhood to build one of the world’s most recognizable luxury brands. By the late 1930s, she was one of Europe’s most successful businesswomen, with her designs and Chanel No. 5 perfume transforming the fashion industry. Following the German occupation of Paris in 1940, Chanel remained in the French capital and entered a relationship with German intelligence officer Hans Günther von Dincklage. Records uncovered decades later documented her connections to German intelligence, while historians have also examined her attempt to use anti-Jewish legislation to gain control of the highly profitable Parfums Chanel business. Chanel later became involved in Operation Modellhut, an unsuccessful German intelligence initiative that sought to exploit her connection with Winston Churchill to establish secret diplomatic contacts as Nazi Germany’s military position deteriorated. After the liberation of France, Chanel was questioned by French authorities but released without charges. Claims that Churchill intervened on her behalf have circulated for decades, although conclusive evidence establishing such intervention has not emerged. Chanel eventually returned to fashion and successfully rebuilt her career, once again becoming one of the industry’s leading designers. This documentary examines Coco Chanel’s remarkable rise from poverty to wealth, her connections with Nazi German intelligence, her controversial activities during the occupation of France, and the historical debate that continues to surround this chapter of her life. This episode is part of the series Fascist Millionaires and Rich Traitors. Watch the full documentary and explore hundreds of historical films at: WorldHistory.tv.