Dr. Walter Grunden is a Professor of History at BGSU, where he specializes in Policy History, Modern China and Japan.  

He recently lent his expertise to several documentaries covering scientific knowledge, international subterfuge, and WWII. He shares with us some of the projects he’s worked on recently, how Williams 141 was transformed into a recording studio, and where you can watch the documentaries.  

I’ve appeared in several documentaries, starting in 2005. Recently, I was interviewed by NHK (Japan’s version of BBC or PBS) and appeared in a documentary on Chemical Warfare in World War II called, “The Hidden Poison Gas Battle,” that aired in Japan on September 12, 2020, then on NHK International on November 14. We recorded during the pandemic, so that was all done remotely.   

I next appeared in “Hitler’s Secret Bomb,” a documentary about the discovery of new documents revealing that Germany shipped uranium ore to Japan during the war to help support Japan’s nuclear research. The documentary featured three historians discussing efforts to develop nuclear weapons during the war, including the US, Nazi Germany, and Japan. I was featured as the specialist on Japan’s wartime bomb projects, with Mark Walker as the expert on Nazi Germany’s wartime nuclear research, and Alex Wellerstein appearing as the featured expert on the US Manhattan Project. 

We filmed during the pandemic. It was the first time I worked from a written script, although I was given considerable leeway to ad lib. The directors, Adam Geiger and Colette Beaudry, directed remotely from Australia, while cinematographer Duane Empey transformed Williams Hall 141 into a film studio. The documentary aired on the Discovery Channel on August 22, 2021. 

Following that, I was featured in three episodes of a six-part mini-series called, “Secret Weapons of World War II.” The producers hired a local crew for filming, which was conducted in the TV Production Studio in the Kuhlin Center here at BGSU. It’s a state-of-the-art studio, and the students here are very fortunate to have access to this level of technology.