A shocking TV experiment has revealed ordinary Brits repeatedly failing to speak up when shown around a care home run to Nazi ideals - with viewers left 'baffled' by their response.
Channel 4's controversial documentary The Experiment, which aired on Thursday night, aimed to show how the public might react if people with disabilities were segregated from society.
At the core of the premise was the Nazi-driven idea of eugenics, with disabled people seen as 'useless eaters' who had become a drain on the nation's finances.
During the Second World War, the Nazi regime systematically murdered 250,000 disabled children and adults through its sinister 'euthanasia' programme, Aktion T4, which was carried out at six specialised killing centres.
These included Hartheim Castle in Austria, where presenters Mat Fraser and Sophie Morgan discovered how Nazi propaganda swayed the populace into accepting the regime's barbarous actions.
The Experiment took the underlying concept of that idea - that disabled people should be shuttered away - and created a fictional residential care home filled with disabled actors.
Ordinary Brits of all ages and walks of life were invited to come along and visit the 'facility' - but the real purpose was to see just how many would realise the 'caring' environment promised in the brochures and promotional videos was not as it seemed.
None noticed the name of the facility - SegriLife - was a shortened form of the words, 'Segregated Life' - or the sinister meaning behind the promotional catchphrase, 'Better for our residents, better for all of us.'
Channel 4's controversial documentary The Experiment aimed to show how the public might react if people with disabilities were segregated from society
Presenter Sophie Morgan watched on as members of the public visited the fictional care home
Teacher Finn (left) was among the few who questioned the facility and called it 'hell on earth'
There were no raised eyebrows either over the Nazi-influenced posters promoting the cost-saving 'efficiency' of having disabled people live together in facilities like SegriLife - or the fact the logo had chilling echoes of the one used by the SS.
No-one raised the alarm over the workshop, where residents were put to 'use' making beaded bracelets and toys for commercial gain.
One actor looked to the ceiling as the visitors simply smiled and walked past her bracelets, for which she had ironically used letter beads to spell out the words, 'Send Help'.
Some became more questioning in the 'safe space' room, where one resident implied he had been kept there against his own choice - but when questioned about what they thought of the care home a surprising majority of the visitors praised it.
Standing in the cynically named 'The Nest' - a Borstal-like dorm with no charm, comfort or thick blankets - one visitor described the centre as 'great' and said he 'wouldn't mind moving in'.
He said: 'There's a real community feel here and they feel safe as well.'
Another said: 'I agree, they all look like they're happy, healthy, clean and being looked after.'
A female visitor said: 'It's a very nice place, very calm atmosphere. I'm quite impressed by these camera things that monitor them and give people who work here all the information. It's a nice atmosphere.'
But the cracks had thankfully begun to show for a few.
Teacher Finn was unequivocal in his condemnation. 'I think the absolute opposite,' he told the cameras. 'This is like hell on earth.
'If this is the future of private healthcare, I don't want to be part of it. At all.'
By the time the group had visited the 'My Future' suite, where residents were advised on contraception - and sterilisation - as well as the 'Wall of Friends', where leaflets promoted the idea of assisted dying, the penny was beginning to drop for a few more.
But not all. When the visitors were finally told what was going on some revealed they had felt 'very ignorant'. Others admitted they had felt uncomfortable but still did not speak up, while another said he simply believed what he was being told.
And one even revealed he 'didn't think there was anything out of the ordinary'.
Presenter Mat Fraser chillingly warned that propaganda can 'easily manipulate' individuals
On social media there were mixed reactions to The Experiment.
One viewer wrote: 'Interesting experiment to carry out. Perceptions of disabled people are so negative and need to be challenged. Unconscious bias and disability awareness training should be in schools.'
Another wrote: 'At times infuriating and at times just a great general window into how some in society think us with disabilities should be treated.'
But a third was left frustrated that none of the visitors had realised what was truly going on.
'Hasn’t anyone questioned the name SegriLife?! I’m mega baffled,' they wrote.
Presenter Mat Fraser said the experiment had shown how 'you can quite easily manipulate people's opinion with propaganda-style information.'
'But if we let this get out of hand, it can lead to what the Nazis did,' he chillingly warned.
The Experiment is available to watch on Channel 4 On Demand.