- Description
- Welt im Film. Issue no. 25 (part)
Title: Inspektionsreise General de Gaulles [General de Gaulle's inspection tour]. General de Gaulle tours the French occupied zone of Germany, beginning in Saarbruecken. The general rides in an open car and crowds line the streets. Many of those in the crowd wave French flags. De Gaulle greets French troops (some of them colonial troops) and inhabitants of Mainz. Shots of destroyed buildings in Mainz. His car drives past the Westwall fortifications. De Gaulle greets women dressed in ethnic costume. On the third day of his journey de Gaulle reaches the city of (?), which lies in ruins. French troops march through the town as civilians look on. A child holds a French flag. De Gaulle crosses the Rhein to Strasbourg in a boat and is greeted by a huge crowd.
01:19:02 Title: Muenchen Eroeffnung der Kammerspiele [Reopening of Munich theaters]. People in line outside a theater in Munich. A uniformed representative of the American government congratulates Erich Engel for receiving a license to operate the theater. Actors apply makeup for their roles in Macbeth and take the stage.
01:20:26 Title: Heldenehrung in Warschau [Honoring the heroes of Warsaw]. Crowds of people and various dignitaries gather in the ruins of Warsaw to honor the "freedom fighters" who fought against the Germans (this seems to refer to Polish partisans rather than ghetto fighters). Polish troops march through the streets as people look on. Panning shots of graves marked with white crosses and shots of the destroyed city.
01:21:43 Title: Inventur bei Hagenbeck [Taking stock at the Hagenbeck]. Reopening of the Hagenbeck zoo in Hamburg. Shots of zebras, ostriches, bears, goats, and other animals. People watch the animals and smile. The narration says that the military government has supported the Hagenbeck family in reopening the animal park. Shot of a US serviceman. The next scenes show another part of the two "famous worker elephants" lifting large pieces on debris on command while crowds of people watch.
01:23:57 Title: V-2 = Geheimnisse werden enthuellt [V-2 rockets = secrets will be discovered]. A shot of a V-2 rocket as it takes off as the narrator explains that this rocket is being launched so that English specialists can observe it. The rocket takes off and eventually will drop harmlessly into the North Sea. The narrator says that Hitler's secret weapon is secret no more.
01:25:22 Title: Die Waisen von Dachau [The orphans of Dachau]. CU on the sign indicating that this is a DP children's center run by UNRRA team 182. Children run down the stairs inside the home as the narrator explains that the parents of these children died in Dachau. Children sing and play outdoors while one of them plays an accordian. CU on a "KL" tattoo on Herman Weinstock's arm. Children eat a meal in a big sunny room, CU on a plate of food. The UNRRA officer Greta Fischer helps a group of toddlers to climb down a staircase. A nun hands out biscuits to babies in a nursery then cleans their hands and faces. Cute shots of babies playing on a blanket. Boys play soccer while the narrator says that after months of care these children will find new homes abroad, in England and Switzerland among other countries, so that they may forget that their first impression of childhood was Dachau.
The Kloster Indersdorf orphan home was established in a cloister near Dachau and run by UNRRA. Many of the children at Kloster Indersdorf were from Eastern Europe and had been brought to Germany to be Aryanized or to be used in forced labor. A small percentage of the children were Jewish. Please see the Photo Archives series of photographs of these orphans for more information.
- Duration
- 00:10:45
- Date
-
Event:
1945
Production:
1945 November 02
- Locale
-
Dachau,
Germany
Hamburg,
Germany
Mainz,
Germany
Munich,
Germany
Strasbourg,
France
Warsaw,
Poland
Kloster Indersdorf,
Germany
Cuxhaven,
Germany
Saarbruecken,
Germany
- Credit
- Accessed at United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of National Archives & Records Administration
- Contributor
-
Producer:
Welt im Film Newsreel
- Biography
-
The Welt im Film [World in Film] newsreel series was produced by the American and British military governments to support the denazification campaign in Germany and Austria. Screening was compulsory in cinemas in the American and British zones of Germany until the late 1940s.
