On this day, at the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, the Great War ends. At 5 a.m. that morning, Germany, bereft of manpower and supplies and faced with imminent invasion, signed an armistice agreement with the Allies in a railroad car outside Compiegne, France. The First World War left nine million soldiers dead and 21 million wounded, with Germany, Russia, Austria-Hungary, France, and Great Britain each losing nearly a million or more lives. In addition, at least five million civilians died from disease, starvation, or exposure.
As Hitler’s influence extends beyond Germany and darkness descends across Europe, his hateful rhetoric fuels anti-Jewish persecution and, ultimately, genocide. See more in this clip from Season 1, Episode 7, “Darkness Falls.” New episodes Mondays at 8/7c.