Gen. Elster surrenders
Overview
- Description
- German Major General Erich Elster walks forward with two officers by his side. The translator beside him salutes. Six German officers line up behind them. Elster and the two men walk forward, facing three US officers. Elster and US Major General Rob Macon salute each other. Elster surrenders, in German, with his hand raised. He takes out his gun and presents it to Macon. Macon stands with the gun in his hand. The translator relays Elster’s words: “...under the circumstances of war, the command over that of his march group, he saw fit to withdraw certain combat elements which were capable of continuing to fight. For those reasons, General Elster has surrendered the units remaining with him, because with the means in his hands he had not the ability to break through to the German frontier. Accordingly he surrenders his command, these marching groups, the foot troops, and the service elements to the United States Army.” General Macon says accepts the surrender and tells Elster, “You, your officers, and men, will be given treatment in accordance with the principles of the Geneva convention.” The translator relays the message to Elster, who listens carefully, nods his head. Someone off screen instructs them to return to their cars for transport across the river. Gen. Elster, the translator, and another salute before walking away. The US officers walk away. Soldiers in the BG.
- Film Collection Title
- Robert Kalisch Collection
- Duration
- 00:04:00
- Date
-
Event:
1944 September 24
- Locale
-
France
- Credit
- Accessed at United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Library of Congress
Physical Details
- Language
- German
- Genre/Form
- Unedited.
- B&W / Color
- Black & White
- Image Quality
- Excellent
- Film Format
- Master
Master 4252 Digital: ProRes HD HQ 422 - color - HD
Master 4252 Digital: ProRes HD HQ 422 - color - HD
Master 4252 Digital: ProRes HD HQ 422 - color - HD
Master 4252 Digital: ProRes HD HQ 422 - color - HD
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- This archival media can only be accessed in a Museum reading room or other on-campus viewing stations.
- Copyright
- ITN Source
- Conditions on Use
- For enquiries about archive footage please contact ITN Source in America at nan.halperin@itnsource.com or Getty Images on +44 (0) 207 428 6109 or at itn.archive@gettyimages.com.
- Copyright Holder
- ITN Source
Keywords & Subjects
Administrative Notes
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Film Provenance
- The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum purchased high-resolution copies of amateur films and other footage from the Library of Congress in February 2017.
- Note
- Col. Bertram Kalisch served on the 12th Army group staff under Bradley and was the pictorial officer responsible for combat field units who filmed activities of the assigned Army forces. Before the war, he was a reporter for the Army-Navy journal and worked in the newsreel business in NY. Kalisch covered the surrender of a German force of 20,000 men under Gen. Erich Elster with his private camera and spliced it into a personal compilation reel of home movies (his graduation ceremony in Annapolis and his wedding) with Pathe and Movietone newsreels, some with original sound or Kalisch's narration. This clip was excerpted from reels called "Miscellaneous Pathe & Movietone News" in the Library of Congress's AFI/Robert Kalisch Collection.
At the time, it was the largest mass surrender of the war, and Kalisch apparently convinced Elster to have it filmed by claiming that he would "save face" and look like an honorable officer for doing the right thing. The surrender was covered by several newsreel companies, including British Movietone which issued "Fantastic Surrender" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHPxW8ZyJTY or http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/bab592b7676b4aeaa67f68703e0e23fe - Film Source
- Library of Congress - Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division (MBRS)
- File Number
- Source Archive Number: 210541-1-2
- Special Collection
-
Steven Spielberg Film and Video Archive
- Record last modified:
- 2024-02-21 07:58:35
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn560588
Download & Licensing
- Request Copy
- See Rights and Restrictions
- Terms of Use
- This record is digitized but cannot be downloaded online.
In-Person Research
- Requires Research Visit
- Plan a Research Visit
