Overview
- Description
- (LIB 6492) Hagenow, Mecklenburg-Vorpommerin, Germany (now the site of the Hagenow Memorial to the Wöbbelin Camp Victims). LS of German civilians digging rows of graves. Closer shots showing white-sheeted corpses beside each grave. American soldiers wander among the rows, watching the Germans. 02:26:50 German civilians unload large white crosses (grave markers) from a wagon. Three former prisoners, still wearing striped uniforms, walk toward the camera bearing a large wreath. They lay the wreath on the graves. CUs of corpses. 02:27:13 A group of American soldiers, some of them chaplains, and a robed priest, conduct a memorial service. One of the men reads from a clipboard into a microphone. LS of the German civilians who have been forced to attend the service.
02:27:34 (LIB 6501) Unknown location. CU of sign reading: "Crockett Displaced Persons Center," which is also written in German and Russian. LS of dusty camp grounds. Displaced persons (in civilian and military dress) sit in front of a structure decorated with portraits of Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill. A line of German civilians enters the camp (?) headed by very small children but with adults or at least older children visible at the back of the line. Some of them seem to be carrying flowers (forced confrontation?). 02:28:03 An American soldier leads a woman to a bench. She shows a large scar on her leg. Two men also show their scars to the camera.
02:28:31 (LIB 6509) Schwerin, Germany. LS of German civilians digging graves in the town square. A man wearing a German officers' overcoat and cap consults a clipboard. He wears a white armband. CUs of men and boys digging graves. LS of large crowd of German civilians. Several clergy members conduct funeral services in the midst of the crowd. A closer shot reveals that the clergymen are standing over graves with white crosses and the occasional Star of David grave marker. An American soldier reads into a microphone. 02:29:34 German civilians walk past the open graves. View down into one of the graves. German officers among the crowd. Men with shovels walk toward the graves and fill them in. See note for more historical information about this event. - Duration
- 00:04:07
- Date
-
Event:
1945
- Locale
-
Schwerin,
Germany
Hagenau, Germany
- Credit
- Accessed at United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of National Archives & Records Administration
- Contributor
-
Producer:
United States. Army. Signal Corps.
Physical Details
- Language
- Silent
- Genre/Form
- Unedited.
- B&W / Color
- Black & White
- Image Quality
- Good
- Time Code
- 02:26:23:00 to 02:30:30:00
- Film Format
- Master
Master 2921 Video: Digital Betacam - NTSC - large
Master 2921 Digital: MotionJPEG2000 - HD
Master 2921 Video: Digital Betacam - NTSC - large
Master 2921 Digital: MotionJPEG2000 - HD
Master 2921 Video: Digital Betacam - NTSC - large
Master 2921 Digital: MotionJPEG2000 - HD
Master 2921 Video: Digital Betacam - NTSC - large
Master 2921 Digital: MotionJPEG2000 - HD
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- You do not require further permission from the Museum to access this archival media.
- Copyright
- Public Domain
- Conditions on Use
- To the best of the Museum's knowledge, this material is in the public domain. You do not require further permission from the Museum to reproduce or use this material.
Keywords & Subjects
- Keyword
- ARMBANDS CHAPLAINS CHILDREN CLERGY CORPSES DISPLACED PERSONS (DP) DISPLACED PERSONS (DP) CAMPS FLOWERS FORCED CONFRONTATION FUNERALS GRAVES JEWS LOUDSPEAKERS MEMORIALS MICROPHONES PRIESTS SOLDIERS/MILITARY SOLDIERS/MILITARY (AMERICAN) SOLDIERS/MILITARY (GERMAN) STARS OF DAVID UNIFORMS WOEBBELIN
Administrative Notes
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Film Provenance
- The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum purchased the film excerpts from the National Archives and Records Administration in February 2011.
- Note
- Regarding Schwerin footage: Woebbelin, a sub-camp of Neuengamme, was captured by British and American troops on May 4, 1945. Upon entering the camp, the liberating 8th Infantry Division discovered nearly 4,000 prisoners, one-quarter of whom were already dead. Outraged by what they found, the ranking Allied commanders in the area forced civilians from the nearby towns of Schwerin, Hagenow, and Ludwigslust to view the concentration camp and then bury the bodies of prisoners in their towns. Approximately 200 bodies were buried in Ludwigslust on the grounds of the palace of the Archduke of Mecklenburg. A somewhat smaller number were buried in the garden of the leading Nazi official in Hagenow and 80 bodies were interred in Schwerin. Every fourth grave was marked at each site with a Star of David in honor of the unidentified Jewish dead (caption from USHMM Photo Archives series of photos of this event).
- Copied From
- 35mm
- Film Source
- United States. National Archives and Records Administration. Motion Picture Reference
- File Number
- Legacy Database File: 5529
Source Archive Number: 342 USAF 13138 R2 - Special Collection
-
Steven Spielberg Film and Video Archive
- Record last modified:
- 2024-02-21 08:05:27
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn1004598
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