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German troops in France; Hitler in Memel

Film | Digitized | Accession Number: 2003.122 | RG Number: RG-60.4284 | Film ID: 2552

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    German troops in France; Hitler in Memel

    Overview

    Description
    Title on screen: Ozaphan 1/40 Monatschau; Durchsuchen genommener franzoesischer Stellungen [Search of captured French trenches]. Armed German soldiers walk along a muddy road and among destroyed buildings. They search the banks and interior of a trench. Title on screen: Ein Fesselballoon wrid zum Aufstieg fertiggemacht [A captive balloon (? dictionary translation) is prepared for its ascent]. German soldiers run up a small hill toward a dirigible, which is docked among some trees. Two Germans are shown climbing into flight suits, while others prepare the dirigible for flight by leading it out of the clearing using the lines that tether it to the ground. Another shot of the Germans getting into their flight suits and putting on their helmets, then a shot from the ground of the dirigible high up in the air. The airship has some kind of cross symbol painted on its side. Title on screen: Meldehunde und Brieftauben [Messenger dogs and pigeons]. Germans march across a field with dogs at their sides. They perform exercises with the dogs, including crawling across the field on their stomachs. Two messenger pigeons, wearing specially constructed padded suits and inserted into small containers, are attached to the sides of saddles worn by one of the dogs. The dog runs across the field and delivers the pigeons and their messages to waiting soldiers. Title on screen: Das ruchlose Attentat am Vorabend des 9. November [The wicked assasination attempt on the evening before the 9th of November]. Men leave the doorway of a building, over which hang numbers forming the dates 1923 and 1939 (November 8/9 1923 was the date of the Beer Hall Putsch). Two carved eagles flank the doorway. The camera pans over the wreckage of a building. A brief shot of Germans clearing away rubble, then more shots of the completely destroyed structure. Title on screen: Der Fuehrer erweist seinen Getreuen die letzte Ehre [The Fuehrer shows the final honor to his loyal followers]. Hitler, accompanied by Hess and another man, attends a funeral. Shots of Nazi flag-draped coffins and of weeping widows. Crowd and close up shots of SA men. Hitler places a wreath in front of one of the coffins and salutes. He offers condolences to one of the women. Crowds salute the funeral procession as it marches slowly down the street, with a large wreath and a man carrying the dead man's medals in front of the coffin. The procession marches under the Brandenburg gate. The scene switches abruptly: Hitler, in his car, on foot, and from a window, is shown greeting excited crowds; the crowds wave from a window, on the street, and a shot from above of crowds running, presumably toward Hitler's entourage. The last shot shows planes flying over a building with Polish words on it. Title on screen: Die grosse Parade auf dem Wenzelsplatz zu Prag [The great parade on the Wenzelsplatz in Prague]. Soldiers marching, military vehicles, including tanks and cannons on carts, drive down the street. Planes fly overhead. Title on screen: Rueckkehr des Fuehrers in die Reichshauptstadt [Return of the Fuehrer to the capital of the Reich]. A shot of partially furled Nazi flags covers the screen. A crowd awaits a locomotive as it enters a station; shot of smoke/steam issuing from the smokestack of the train. Hitler disembarks. Shot of his motorcade traveling down the street at night, with crowds lining the street, and fireworks in the sky. Hitler stands at a window and looks down at the street. He motions for Goering, beside him, to come forward. A shot of the crowd waving. Title on screen: Der Fuerher in Befreiten Memelland [The Fuehrer in liberated Memel]. A man paints over the Lithuanian words on a sign in front of a train station so that only the German is visible. Memel, formerly part of East Prussia until it was ceded to Lithuania under the Versailles Treaty, was annexed back to Germany in March of 1939. Shots of Memel fascists in black uniforms, ordinary citizens greeting Hitler, and arriving German troops are interspersed with several scenes of Hitler arriving by ship. People wave to him from what appears to be a small fishing vessel, and sailors wave from the distance of another ship. Hitler disembarks from a ship and is greeted enthusiastically. He prepares to speak from a balcony on a large (perhaps government) building while crowds cheer wildly.
    Duration
    00:05:17
    Date
    Event:  1940 January
    Locale
    Berlin, Germany
    Memel, Lithuania
    Prague, Czechoslovakia
    Poland
    Credit
    United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, gift of Claranne Bechtler
    Contributor
    Producer: UFA

    Physical Details

    Language
    Silent
    Genre/Form
    Newsreels.
    B&W / Color
    Black & White
    Image Quality
    Fair
    Time Code
    01:09:12:00 to 01:14:29:00
    Film Format
    • Master
    • Master 2552 Film: positive - 16 mm - ozaphan - b&w
      Master 2552 Video: Digital Betacam - NTSC - small
      Master 2552 Film: positive - 16 mm - ozaphan - b&w
      Master 2552 Video: Digital Betacam - NTSC - small
      Master 2552 Film: positive - 16 mm - ozaphan - b&w
      Master 2552 Video: Digital Betacam - NTSC - small
      Master 2552 Film: positive - 16 mm - ozaphan - b&w
      Master 2552 Video: Digital Betacam - NTSC - small
    • Preservation
    • Preservation 2552 Film: negative - 16 mm - b&w - duplicate negative
      Preservation 2552 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - small
      Preservation 2552 Film: negative - 16 mm - b&w - duplicate negative
      Preservation 2552 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - small
      Preservation 2552 Film: negative - 16 mm - b&w - duplicate negative
      Preservation 2552 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - small
      Preservation 2552 Film: negative - 16 mm - b&w - duplicate negative
      Preservation 2552 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - small
    • User
    • User 2552 Film: positive - 16 mm - b&w - print
      User 2556 Film: positive - 16 mm - b&w - print
      User 2579 Film: positive - 16 mm - b&w - print
      User 2586 Film: positive - 16 mm - b&w - print
      User 2552 Film: positive - 16 mm - b&w - print
      User 2556 Film: positive - 16 mm - b&w - print
      User 2579 Film: positive - 16 mm - b&w - print
      User 2586 Film: positive - 16 mm - b&w - print
      User 2552 Film: positive - 16 mm - b&w - print
      User 2556 Film: positive - 16 mm - b&w - print
      User 2579 Film: positive - 16 mm - b&w - print
      User 2586 Film: positive - 16 mm - b&w - print
      User 2552 Film: positive - 16 mm - b&w - print
      User 2556 Film: positive - 16 mm - b&w - print
      User 2579 Film: positive - 16 mm - b&w - print
      User 2586 Film: positive - 16 mm - b&w - print

    Rights & Restrictions

    Conditions on Access
    You do not require further permission from the Museum to access this archival media.
    Copyright
    Federal Republic of Germany. Bundesarchiv.
    Conditions on Use
    Researchers who wish to use this footage should contact the Bundesarchiv Filmarchiv at filmbenutzung@bundesarchiv.de to sign a release, or submit the online request form at: https://www.bundesarchiv.de/EN/Content/Downloads/request-for-use-av-material.pdf?__blob=publicationFile

    Keywords & Subjects

    Administrative Notes

    Film Provenance
    Claranne Bechtler, the daughter of John Christopher Bechtler, donated her father's film materials to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in May 1995 [Accession Number 1995.A.875]. Most of these items were deaccessioned in March 2000; 18 reels of film, however, were transferred to the Steven Spielberg Film and Video Archive at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and were never officially deaccessioned or removed from the Museum's premises. They were officially "donated" again by Mrs. Bechtler in June 2003 with the Accession Number 2003.122.
    Note
    Some of the Hitler in Memel footage is the same as that found on Film ID 200, Story 212, from Bundesarchiv. The BA footage doesn't have the German title, but it does have some other scenes relating to a food transport for the Sudetenland, as well as a shot of a newspaper headline proclaiming "Memel ist Frei!" The BA footage doesn't show Hitler.
    Film Source
    Ms. Claranne M. Bechtler
    John C. Bechtler
    File Number
    Legacy Database File: 4574
    Record last modified:
    2024-02-21 08:05:59
    This page:
    https:​/​/collections.ushmm.org​/search​/catalog​/irn1003749

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