Forced labor construction of giant submarine pen

Film | Digitized | Accession Number: 1992.263.1 | RG Number: RG-60.0681 | Film ID: 313

Overview

Description: French POWs, concentration camp inmates, Polish and Soviet POWs from Neuengamme subcamp Bremen-Farge - forced labor at U-Boat construction site "Valentin" in Bremen.

00:02:09 Good establishing shots of construction complex and adjacent Weser River. Train pulling into site, LS men working at base of high wall under construction. Guiding crane. 00:05:50 VS French uniformed POWs digging, lifting girders. 00:06:17 LS concentration camp inmates in striped clothing unloading bags of cement and carrying them on their shoulders, MS then MCU. 00:07:03 LS of train, and pan of buildings, cranes and construction. 00:07:33 Laborers working in LS then pan over fields and woods adjacent to site. LS steel framing and tracks. Pan left, waterway in BG, then gravel or dirt pits, barracks and construction area.
Film Title: U-Boot Bunker im Bau [U-Boat Bunker Construction]
Duration: 00:07:37
Date: Event: 1944
Locale: Bremen, Germany
Credit: Accessed at United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Hildegard and Sabine Steig
Contributor: Camera Operator: German naval officer

Language: Silent
Genre/Form: Amateur.
B&W / Color: Black & White
Image Quality: Fair
Time Code: 00:02:09:00 to 00:09:46:00
Film Format: Master
Master 313 Video: One Inch - NTSC
Master 313 Video: One Inch - NTSC
Master 313 Video: One Inch - NTSC
Master 313 Video: One Inch - NTSC
Preservation
Preservation 313 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - small
Preservation 313 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - small
Preservation 313 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - small
Preservation 313 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - small

Conditions on Access: This archival media can only be accessed in a Museum reading room or other on-campus viewing stations.
Copyright: Hildegard Steig, Sabine Steig
Conditions on Use: This footage may not be duplicated without the permission of Sabine Steig. Contact steig@arcor.de.
Copyright Holder: Hildegard Steig
Sabine Steig

Keyword: CONCENTRATION CAMPS CONSTRUCTION FORCED LABOR GERMANY INDUSTRY (GERMAN) JEWS LABOR NEUENGAMME POWS (FRENCH) POWS (POLISH) POWS (SOVIET) PRISONERS PRISONERS (JEWISH) SUBMARINES TRAINS UNIFORMS

Legal Status: Permanent Collection
Film Provenance: The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum purchased this from the Bundesarchiv in Berlin, Germany in October 1992. The footage was transferred at Bibo TV in Germany and obtained as research for the Museum's Permanent Exhibition.
Note: See Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, V.1, pp 1091 - 1094, especially Bremen-Farge article, for details about the concentration camp, prisoners, numbers, conditions, and mortality rate. Marineoberbaurat Edo Meiners was in charge of the site. The Bremen-Vulkan Shipyard, part of the Thyssen Group, had control of Project Valentin. About 10,000 workers, the majority forced laborers, were employed on the site. The majority of prisoners were French; also strongly represented were Poles, Soviets, and Greeks. From the summer of 1944, a Marine Reserve Detachment of c.250 men took over guarding the prisoners. On the construction site, prisoners were supervised by German foremen. Evacuation of the Farge subcamp began on April 10, 1945.
Copied From: 16mm pos b/w
Film Source: Bundesarchiv (Germany). Filmarchiv
File Number: Legacy Database File: 0381
Source Archive Number: 3729 R1
Special Collection: Steven Spielberg Film and Video Archive