Film of Hitler confidants set for Smithsonian Channel debut

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By JOE MANDAK

PITTSBURGH (AP) — American television viewers get their first chance to see and hear Adolf Hitler's inner circle describe the dictator's final hours in filmed interviews when "The Day Hitler Died" premieres on the Smithsonian Channel.

The documentary marks the first time viewers outside Germany will see the filmed interviews by Michael Musmanno, a Navy attorney who presided at one of the Nuremburg war crimes trials and later became a Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice.

After the trials, Musmanno spent more than two years tracking down witnesses and re-interviewing them on camera in 1948 to prove Hitler was dead, hoping to thwart rumors spawned when Soviet dictator Josef Stalin claimed Hitler had escaped his underground Berlin bunker.

"There can be no doubt that Adolf Hitler, the fuhrer of Germany, the master criminal of the world, the greatest gangster who ever disgraced the human race, is dead," Musmanno says, concluding the interviews.

FULL story at link.


This photo provided by the Smithsonian Channel shows, an actor portraying Adolf Hitler, seated, addressing his top generals in the new Smithsonian Channel special, “The Day Hitler Died." The documentary premieres on the Smithsonian Channel on Monday, Nov. 16, 2015, at 8 p.m. EDT/PDT. (Smithsonian Channel via AP)

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/0b0a683807d542dc8b56f71034127779/film-hitler-confidants-set-smithsonian-channel-debut

[Galileo126]

1. So much for History Channel's "Hunting Hitler"... -n/t

[underpants]

3. As my brother once perfectly described the History channel...

"Tonight! On the Hostory Channel, did Confederate ghosts influence Hitler?"

[Yupster]

4. That's really funny

because it has the ring of truth to it.

[underpants]

6. As my brother... Not Sammy brother

Stooped auto correct. Editing it

[NuclearDem]

10. Spoiler: It was aliens. Ancient aliens.

It was all written there in Bible code.

[underpants]

11. AND

Now! .....in color!!!

[Kingofalldems]

5. That's all right, they are in the process of catching Bigfoot.

[underpants]

7. Wait! What was that?!

That's pretty much that whole show

[underpants]

2. Will STEINER!!! be on air?

Thanks for the heads up

[NuclearDem]

12. Steiner couldn't muster enough cast and crew.

Steiner's cameo was never filmed.

[Sunlei]

8. Smithsonian has some amazing interviews of persons closest to the extermination.

one I just saw yesterday on Netflix, Smithsonian "The Seven Dwarfs of Auschwitz", had within several good interviews. One interview was of a camp prisoner, who was a symphony cello player before all Jewish musicians were sent to Auschwitz. Once there, musicians had to be ready to play at a moments notice.

"Germans come to the bloc at anytime and request music to be played for them"

By day the nazi Doctor Mengele, would torture, experiment on his collections of 'unusual prisoners' & at night he would demand music to be played for him.

"Mengele always requested Shumann Trimeri"

[mahatmakanejeeves]

9. Michael Musmanno

Last edited Thu Nov 12, 2015, 03:12 PM - Edit history (2)

Just last week, I saw him on a decades-old rerun of "To Tell the Truth." It ran on BUZZR, the all-game and quiz show channel, aired in DC on channel 5.2

Watch To Tell The Truth Season 6 Episode 7 S6E7 Dorothy Sera, Michael A. Musmanno, Anne Sedlowskaus

Dorothy Sera, Michael A. Musmanno, Anne Sedlowskaus

Season 6 Episode 7

Aired date: Feb 12, 1962

Plot: Contestants: Dorothy Sera, Michael A. Musmanno, Anne Sedlowskaus Panel: Dina Merrill, Peggy Cass, Tom Poston, Johnny Carson

[happyslug]

13. Massamano defended Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Musmanno

Beside the law, where he favored Labor and Civil Rights (Through he had a strong aversion to Communism AND pornography) he took up every battle to defend Columbus. In the meantime he volunteer to serve in the US Navy (as a lawyer and later a Military Governor) where he was noted to doing his best to feed the Italians living under his area of Military Governorship (he was accused of being "To Italian" by his British Superiors).

file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/phmen/My%20Documents/Downloads/4450-4295-2-PB.pdf

He was the presiding judge over the Einsatzgruppen cases of Nurenburg:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einsatzgruppen_trial

https://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/Military_Law/pdf/NT_war-criminals_Vol-IV.pdf

http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007080

But he is best remember for his defence of Columbus:

Soon after receiving the call from UPI, Musmanno began to line up his visit to Yale to see the Vinland Map in person. He sought out Lawrence Witten, the map's discoverer, at his New Haven shop to interrogate him on the map's provenance.

In Musmanno's view,the press instantly and uncritically accepted the authors' claims as proven fact. This trial by media, he felt,had effectively taken away Columbus' title of "Discoverer" without due process. So he wrote a book, Columbus Was First, to set the record straight: "So long as there are theorists who dress the legend-enshrouded figure of Lief Ericson with the mantle of Finder of America, so long as archeological ambiguities and maps of dubious pedigree are flaunted as new 'proofs' of their theories by the daily press, so long as these 'proofs' are accepted unquestioningly by a large portion of the public, satisfied that the experts' have spoken — then I feel this book has its raison d'etre."

file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/phmen/My%20Documents/Downloads/4450-4295-2-PB.pdf

[tokenlib]

14. Will they have more history than the so called "History Channel"?

Wouldn't take much ..and it might be popular... When "Newsmax" has more history than the "History Channel" you know things are ass backwards..