- Description
- Montage of scenes from the liberation of Prague in May 1945, made up of footage shot by Bohumil Veselý in the area of his residence. Most of the footage filmed near the intersection of streets and Vodickova School.
Title of film. Another: “Ve 13. roce Hitlerovy vlády a v 7. roce našeho, protektorátu přišel konečně.” “KVETEN” and the number 5. “Dopoledne.” Morning. People in a Prague street. A man holds a white flag out of a window. A woman smiles. People outside of “ANTONIN KMENT.” Trolley car. Two people wave Czech flags out of a window. German soldiers on the street. People outside “Tschochner” shop. "odpoledne” Afternoon. People on the sidewalk by “AKADEMICKA KAVARNA,” the Academic Cafe which is closed. “Barikady” Barricades on the city streets. A woman waves a flag. Clocktower of the Church of Saint Nicholas in the BG. People gather around the barricade constructed of various barrels, rods, and other building materials. “Nevime dne…” Planes overhead. INT shot through a window of people looking up at the planes. A soldier points rifle over a balcony. A woman on a balcony. Inhabitants of the house where the author of the film, Bohumil Vesely, lived.
“Skody” Damage in the city of Prague. Shattered windows, crumbling building fronts. “Rusove” Russian soldiers move along the street, people raise their hats to them. CU of a soldier as he swings machine gun over his shoulder. Women wave Czech flags, smiling and laughing, celebrating the liberation. More Soviet soldiers drive past and people wave from the sidewalks. “Prapory.” Battalions. Flags of the U.S., the Soviet Union, and the Czech Republic above the door of a building. Abandoned truck “C.S.R.” on a sidewalk. Sign for filmmaker's home: “VESELY.” Biplane overhead. A woman holds her small child up, talks to him and laughs. "Václavské nám.” People on the sidewalk in front of a destroyed building: “TUNGSRAM.” More destruction. Buildings in complete ruin. Windows blown out, entire facades wrecked beyond repair. The frame of a building stands like an exoskeleton, about to crumble. Men stand on the rubble. They attempt to knock down a part of a building’s front wall. Statue of Wenclesas. “Nemky.” People in the street. A section of the road is missing where cobblestone was removed to be used as barricade. Women of German nationality are forced to place the stones back, shoeless. Women kneel in front of soldiers. They keep moving the stones as people walk past and stare. A man rolls a barrel. Prague streets. A large flag hangs from a building. Eight planes fly in the sky above. People wave Czech flags. A woman (seen earlier with child) waves the flag for the camera. Endcard, “B. Veselý.”
- Duration
- 00:09:42
- Date
-
Event:
1945 May
- Locale
-
Prague,
Czechoslovakia
- Credit
- Accessed at United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Národní filmový archiv
- Contributor
-
Camera Operator:
Bohumil Veselý
