Unsolved Mysteries of WWII Season 1: Episode Guide & Ratings

In May 1940 the British Army in France was facing annihilation at the hands of powerful German armored formations. Yet, with such a resounding victory within his grasp, Hitler uncharacteristically ordered the tanks to halt, enabling the British to make a dramatic escape from the Beaches of Dunkirk.

During the war German Scientists invented a range of remarkable weapons. But the most awe inspiring of all was undoubtedly the long-range rocket known to history as the V-2. Why did Germans spend so much time and effort developing a space age weapon only to arm it with less than one ton of conventional explosives?

Under the influence of personal physician Professor Morrell, Adolf Hitler's mental and physical state dramatically deteriorated. Recent evidence raises new questions about Hitler's increasing dependence on drugs prescribed by Morrell. Was Hitler a dying man who help the fate Europe in his hands?

Deep in the Westphalian countryside Heinrich Himmler transformed an ancient castle into a secret center for the SS rites and rituals. What were the mysterious ceremonies performed in the castle crypt? Did Himmler really believe that the castle would be the spiritual focal point of the final great battle between East and West?

The Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor on December 7 1941 shocked the world and drew the United States into the war. Did British Intelligence and Britain's Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, know in advance of the Japanese attack and fail to warn the Americans?

Of the many attempts to kill Hilter the von Stauffenberg attempt came closest to not just killing Hitler but in toppling the Nazi Regime. Although the plot came toward the end of Hitler's reign it had it roots years earlier among the numerous disenchanted members of the Wehrmacht senior staff, the very leaders Hitler needed to carryout his plans for the conquest of Europe. An assassination plot was well underway immediately following Hitler's invasions of Eastern European countries. But a surge in Hitler's popularity and the imposition of the Fuhrer Oath, which German officers considered sacred even though it was imposed on them, lead the conspirators to abandon their scheme, at least for the foreseeable future.

Today, mystery still surrounds Adolf Hitler's fate. What happened to Hitler in the last desperate days of the Third Reich?

What are the origins of this dreaded symbol of the Nazi Party? How did the Swastika change from a Buddhist sign of good fortune to the Nazi emblem which would strike terror into the hearts of millions.

Where did these powerful formations come from? How long had this secret army existed and had Stalin refused to commit them even when Hitler's Armies were at the gates of Moscow?

Adolf Hitler's niece Angela Raubal, who was widely believed to have been his mistress, was found dead in 1931.

On May 10, 1941 Rudolf Hess, former Deputy Fuhrer of the Third Reich, made an extraordinary lone flight to Britain. Why did the British government, instead of treating the incident as a propaganda coup, shroud the Hess affair in a web of official secrecy?

By June 1944, Adolf Hitler had become convinced that the Allied invasion of France would be launched at Pas-de-Calais.