The Disappearance of Nazi Financier Hjalmar Schacht (After the Trials)

What became of Hjalmar Schacht—the brilliant but controversial economist once called “Hitler’s banker”?
This in-depth documentary explores the extraordinary, little-known journey of the man who helped rebuild Germany’s economy after the First World War, financed Hitler’s early rise, then turned against the regime and stood trial at Nuremberg.
After his surprising acquittal, Schacht faced denazification tribunals, attempted to rebuild his reputation, and reinvented himself as an international financial consultant advising nations across the developing world. Yet as Germany experienced its postwar “economic miracle,” Schacht quietly disappeared from the national spotlight, leaving historians to debate his true legacy—visionary economist or complicit technocrat?
Through a chronological narrative grounded in verified historical sources, this film traces Schacht’s transformation from central banker to controversial survivor, examining how ambition, expertise, and moral compromise intersected in one of the twentieth century’s most turbulent lives.
If you’re fascinated by hidden postwar histories, Nazi trials, or the moral dilemmas of power and responsibility, this documentary reveals a side of history rarely told.