About the Episode
As the tide begins to turn against the Axis powers, the leaders of Germany and Japan deploy opposite strategies on their home fronts. Adolf Hitler and his propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels do everything in their power to shield the German people from the realities of the war. Scarred by the German civilian response to World War I, Hitler is afraid they will turn on him if their lives become too difficult. Even as escalating Allied bombing campaigns kill thousands, the Nazis respond with communal shelters, state aid, and a refusal to close entertainment venues.
In Japan, an Allied quarantine throttles the supply of resources to the Home Islands. Prime Minister Hideki Tojo directs the entire population to engage in the war effort through austerity. Japanese civilians are expected to sacrifice their food, their homes, and their sons to keep the fighting far from Japan’s shores.
But seismic shocks will rock both nations in the summer of 1944, causing the demands upon the German and Japanese people to grow more intense—and deadly.
The National WWII Museum was proud to support HISTORY's work on this series through historical research, educational outreach, and archival footage, as well as on-site interviews with WWII veterans that will be featured as part of the network’s “Save Our History” initiative.
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