Efter nazisternes magtovertagelse i 1933 indførtes flere og flere restriktioner for jøder. Denne serie handler om familien Weiss, en jødisk familie bosat i Berlin. Karl (James Woods) mister sit job som læge og bliver sendt i koncentrationslejren Buchwald. Inga Helms (Meryl Streep) kæmper for at holde familien i live under Hitlers regime. Vi følger også Karls far, Joseph (Fritz Weaver), der mister sit job som læge og deporteres til Polen, hans bror Rudi (Joseph Bottoms), der flygter til Prag og den unge advokat Erik Dorf (Michael Moriarty), som avancerer i rækkerne i SS. Serien er belønnet med otte Emmy Awards, heriblandt bedste kvindelige hovedrolle (Meryl Streep).

The SS was the Nazi state’s instrument of domination and oppression, responsible for the intelligence services and the police. The SS committed a horrific range of atrocities, including the Holocaust, the persecution of political opponents, and brutal war crimes. Millions of people were victims of the Schutzstaffel, and many of the perpetrators were unrepentant to the end.

This six-part documentary provides a comprehensive overview of the SS, describing how a small group of thugs rose to become the most feared organ in the Nazi state. With the help of international experts, the film examines common myths about the organisation. Interviews with eyewitnesses and unapologetic perpetrators take us closer to the psyche of the SS supporters in an attempt to make the inconceivable comprehensible.