Hjalmar Schacht: The Financial Genius Who Funded Hitler’s War Machine is an eye-opening historical documentary that explores the complex, controversial life of the banker who engineered the economic backbone of Nazi Germany.
Long before World War II began, Germany was crippled by hyperinflation, devastating debt, and massive unemployment following the First World War. Enter Hjalmar Schacht—a brilliant banker and President of the Reichsbank—whose radical financial innovations stabilized the German mark and pulled the nation back from economic collapse. However, his financial expertise was soon turned toward a darker purpose: secretly financing Germany’s rapid military rearmament through deceptive financial instruments like Mefo bills.
Through archival footage, economic analysis, and expert commentary from historians, this documentary traces Schacht’s turbulent career—from his role in building the Nazi economic engine to his eventual fallout with the regime, imprisonment in concentration camps, and ultimate trial at Nuremberg. Hjalmar Schacht presents a sober, scholarly examination of how monetary policy, corporate finance, and individual ambition intersected with one of history’s darkest eras.