In the spring of 1931, with Germany on the brink of economic collapse, the audacious Hans Litten put Adolf Hitler on the witness stand of a Berlin court. At great personal risk the young lawyer aimed to expose the true character of Hitler to the German public and thereby halt the phenomenal rise of the Nazi Party. In a humiliating and hostile cross-examination, Hitler was forced to account for his violent methods, his apparent contempt for the law and his stated desire to destroy German democracy. Hitler survived the ordeal, but it was a close encounter which he never forgot.