Plans by the Nazis to develop a nuclear bomb are investigated on this week’s episode of History series Hunting Hitler.
The episode sees the team behind the show head to the Vemork Hydroelectric Plant in Norway, from which the Nazis were believed to be planning to use heavy water (deuterium oxide) to develop nuclear arms.
The plant was sabotaged by the Norwegian resistance movement — as well as Allied bombing — during the war, to stop the Nazis using the heavy water — an important component of nuclear bombs — for that very purpose.
A preview of the Hunting Hitler episode shows an intercepted telegram on 12/9/1944 appearing to point to the Nazis developing heavy water in the basement of a facility on the property.
The team are then seen rappeling down a cliff face in a bid to try and get to what could be the entrance to the facility. Team member Tim Kennedy says: “I could be just feet away from real, actual physical evidence that the Nazis were developing a nuclear bomb.”
This week’s episode also see team members investigate a cabin high in the Austrian Alps where Hitler’s top associate made the ultimate sacrifice.
Last week saw the team search Austria’s Lake Toplitz for a huge cache of Nazi documents said to be hidden there.
Hunting Hitler airs Tuesdays at 10/9c on History.