Hitler’s SS: Portrait in Evil

Helmut and Karl Hoffman grow up during the Great Depression in the Weimar Republic. They witness the rapid rise of the Nazi Party and its promises for a new Germany. The brothers' paths diverge as Karl joins the SA while Helmut studies in Munich.

Karl becomes an enthusiastic member of the SA after hearing Ernst Röhm speak at a Nazi rally. He embraces the movement as a path out of unemployment.

Helmut, a university student in Munich, is pressured to join the SS after a key meeting in the Ruhr where Hitler meets industrialists; he is commissioned as an SS officer just before Hitler comes to power.

The Night of the Long Knives leads to the liquidation of SA leadership and Röhm's downfall. In the chaos, Karl is arrested and sent to Dachau, facing an uncertain fate.

Using his SS connections, Helmut helps secure Karl's release from Dachau. Heydrich warns Karl that he must behave, or Helmut will find himself with 'fewer friends'.

The film hints at the regime's brutality with a brief depiction of Kristallnacht. The atmosphere shifts from political fervor to open persecution and looming violence.

Helmut becomes personally involved in selecting prisoners to murder for the Gleiwitz incident. The staged attack provides a pretext for Nazi expansion as war looms.

During the war, Helmut ascends in the SS and becomes entangled in the administrative paperwork of the Holocaust. He processes orders and oversees decisions that facilitate mass persecution.

Karl is drafted into the Wehrmacht and serves as an officer on the Eastern Front. His perspective shifts as he grows increasingly disillusioned with the regime.

Around the time of the July 20, 1944 assassination attempt on Hitler, Karl deserts from the army. He wanders Germany, witnessing the war's devastation firsthand.

In late April 1945, Helmut deserts from the SS. He is killed by an SS patrol while trying to flee Berlin, signaling the regime's collapse and personal disillusionment.

Karl and his lover Mitzie stand amid the ruins of Stuttgart, reflecting on the destruction around them. They learn that their parents and Hans, who fought with the Hitler Youth, are dead.