- Description
- The amateur films shot by German infantryman Corporal Eugen Biedenbach of 419 Infantry Regiment record his training and active service in the German campaigns against Yugoslavia and on the southern sector of the Eastern Front. The films also containg pre- and post-war scenes of Biedenbach family life in Stuttgart (where the family of Eugen's wife owned a clothes store) as well as recreational activities.
Reel 13. German soldiers in high spirits, at open door of freight train. Loading up on train at Schelklingen; troops in cattle trucks play accordion and portable gramophone with 78 rpm record. Views of moving train on curve, seen from rear car. 00:47 In small station, rainy, views passing through, people waving. 00:58 Women and girls in headscarves. Departure for campaign in Yugoslavia, stopping at railway station of Svetinje - Jeruzalem (Slovenia). Sign also in Cyrillic. Men washing at a stop, water pump, train in BG. Soldiers advance on foot, horseback and carts, pause for rest in grass. 01:50 Crossing the River Semmering on a pontoon bridge. Local women in headscarves smile at invading Germans. 02:00 Soldiers wearing long coats now, in village, lined up, bandaging foot. Walking in town. March from Friedau to Varasdin. Soldier has his sore feet bandaged.
02:38 Military trucks in city; crowd of locals, man in robe with white beard crosses the street; shops. 02:58 Two German soldiers walk along city street, CUs, smiling. 03:07 Line of civilians going opposite direction from line of soldiers on country road. 03:14 Little boys (good shot). 03:24 Soldier with spectacles, seen often throughout the reels, marches alongside a military caravan. 03:26 Crossing River Drau by pontoon bridge which replaces destroyed bridge nearby. Troops rest and eat eggs outside at trestle tables. Sawing wood for repairing destroyed bridge. 04:00 City: hotel, pump, street sign KRAJ MESTO PTW… March back to Pettau? in Slovenia. 04:26 PETTAU sign lying on ground, atop another sign in German. Damaged bridge, wide river. 04:57 HAS large lovely city. German soldiers, MS, CS. Men eating at outdoor table, some shirtless.
05:11 Horseback riding games. Company sports day. Clowning, doing tricks, horses throw some men off. Pole vaulting, various games. Three men in uniform at table with camera. Long jump.
- Duration
- 00:07:43
- Date
-
Event:
Spring 1941
- Locale
-
Yugoslavia
Slovenia
- Credit
- Accessed at United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Imperial War Museums
