HJALMAR SCHACHT: THE BANKER WHO FUNDED HITLER, AND THEN PLOTTED AGAINST HIM

Cinemavixion Review

This documentary delves into the complex and morally ambiguous life of Hjalmar Schacht, a pivotal figure in Germany's tumultuous 20th-century history. The film meticulously traces his journey from a respected economist who stabilized post-WWI Germany to the architect of the clandestine MEFO bills, a financial instrument that fueled Hitler's rearmament program in defiance of the Treaty of Versailles. The narrative compellingly explores Schacht's eventual disillusionment with the Nazi regime, his implication in the failed July 20th plot against Hitler, his subsequent imprisonment, and his surprising acquittal at the Nuremberg trials. It raises profound questions about complicity, genius, and survival in the face of unimaginable historical forces, presenting Schacht as a man whose economic acumen both empowered a dictator and, in his later years, seemingly sought to undermine him. The documentary offers a critical examination of how financial strategies can shape the course of nations, for better or devastatingly worse.