Overview
- Description
- Blurry iris in on a drawn picture of a large castle (possibly Prague Castle) 01:00:20:05 Title: “Tenth Sokol Congress Praha 1938.” Blurry shot of a poster, featuring three muscular men in various poses in front of the Czechslovak flag, text under them says “X Slet Všesokolsky”. English translation is spliced into the title: “Tenth Sokol Congress”
Title: “The American Delegation Arrives.” Two stills: the first of four men and a woman walking towards a camera, with two of whom are holding an American flag, and the second, of two people, one a man with an army beret, and the other a woman in a white dress, both of whom are holding American flags (tinted?). Color film of four people, two men and two women, all wearing traditional costumes walking past the camera, followed by people walking on the Charles Bridge; a small group of men in some type of traditional military costume walk towards the camera. Two men in traditional costumes walking away from the camera, one of whom tips his hat to a man with a camera, pan of a stadium, with groups of gymnasts lined up in the center. Two massive flags, one of Czechoslovakia and the other of the Sokol organization, fly in between the gymnasts, pan left to show that the stadium is packed. More performers enter the stadium in an organized fashion (this is apparently shot on the other side of the stadium, as the flags are now farther off). The athletes participate in mass gymnastics performances.
01:03:03:23 TItle: “President and Madame Beneš Came Daily.” Brief shot of the backs of then president Edvard Beneš and his wife looking at the games, impressive gymnastic performances. 01:05:37:21, b/w, performances.
01:10:03:11 Title: “The Parade.” In color, a parade. People are leaning out of their windows, waving flags as the camera pans down to show the parade. The parade filmed from different angles, variously showing either marching down the streets and waving to spectators, or the crowd waving back. The marchers each have different color clothing and do different performances on the route, with the last group shown wearing traditional costumes.
01:13:10:15 Title: “Sokol Leaders” Various stills of older men in a group photo, dressed in what may be Sokol uniforms. 01:13:48:06 Title: “The End.” - Duration
- 00:13:57
- Date
-
Event:
1938 June-1938 July
- Locale
-
Prague,
Czechoslovakia
- Credit
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, gift of Nancy Harper
- Contributor
-
Camera Operator:
Wilbur J. Carr
Collector: Robert L. Bittrick
- Biography
-
Wilbur John Carr, Former Assistant Secretary of State, was the Minister to Czechoslovakia (US Department of State) when German forces occupied Prague on March 15, 1939. Carr closed the Legation in Prague on March 21, 1939 and left his post on April 6, 1939. He died in 1942.
Robert Bittrick served with the United States Army Air Corps during World War II. He enlisted on February 3, 1941 in Baltimore.
Physical Details
- Language
- Silent
- Genre/Form
- Amateur.
- B&W / Color
- Color
Black & White - Image Quality
- Good
- Time Code
- 01:00:00:00 to 01:13:57:05
- Film Format
- Master
Master 4377 Film: positive - 8 mm - b&w - Kodachrome - A-wind - print
Master 4377 Film: positive - 8 mm - b&w - Kodachrome - A-wind - print
Master 4377 Film: positive - 8 mm - b&w - Kodachrome - A-wind - print
Master 4377 Film: positive - 8 mm - b&w - Kodachrome - A-wind - print
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- You do not require further permission from the Museum to access this archival media.
- Copyright
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
- Conditions on Use
- The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum places no restrictions on use of this material. You do not require further permission from the Museum to reproduce or use this film footage.
- Copyright Holder
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Keywords & Subjects
Administrative Notes
- Legal Status
- In process
- Film Provenance
- Nancy Harper, the daughter of Robert L. Bittrick, deposited these films and other materials at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in October 2018.
- Note
- The Sokol movement is an all-age gymnastics organization first founded in Prague in the Czech region of Austria-Hungary in 1862 by Miroslav Tyrš and Jindřich Fügner. It was based upon the principle of "a strong mind in a sound body". The Sokol, through lectures, discussions, and group outings provided physical, moral, and intellectual training for the nation. The movement also spread across all the regions populated by Slavic cultures. Though officially an institution "above politics", the Sokol played an important part in the development of Czech nationalism, providing a forum for the spread of mass-based nationalist ideologies. Articles published in the Sokol journal, lectures held in the Sokol libraries, and theatrical performances at the massive gymnastic festivals (called slets) helped to craft and disseminate the Czech nationalist mythology and version of history.
- Film Source
- Nancy Harper
- Special Collection
-
Steven Spielberg Film and Video Archive
- Record last modified:
- 2024-02-21 08:05:30
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn700132
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Also in This Collection
Czechoslovakia and Poland in 1938
Film
B/W aerial shots from a cable car (it’s shadow can be clearly seen), interspersed with shots of the actual cable car system from the ground, CU of a woman pointing at the trees from the cable car. 01:00:58:2 Title: “Hradec Králové.” Pan, a public park. A shot of a group of people admiring topiary. 01:01:22:11 Title: “Moravska Ostrava.” Pan up, a trolley car drives by, as people walk around the city, shots of people going to and fro. 01:01:47:11 Title: “Poland.” Film is now in color, with a shot of farmers working in the field, followed by a brief shot of a parade in a city. 01:02:10:21 Title: “Horses for Polish Army.” b/w, a large group of horses at a stable, man in white overcoat and hat standing next to a car (the car’s driver?), license plate says “P-13086”. 01:02:37:00 Title: “Chrzanóv.” Pan, a market with stalls set up, followed by two shots of Hasidic Jews walking in the streets. 01:02:58:13 Title: “Cracow.” Various shots of women selling flowers on the street, as well as other produce, in a market area, people walking around a courtyard in Wawel Castle, pan up. Pan, a series of shots of the EXT of Wawel Cathedral, some with large groups of people approaching the camera. 01:04:59:21 Color, a group of women in red headscarves are gathered together, EXT of a building (a church) in the countryside, obscured by both trees as well as a river in front of the camera. 01:05:29:06 Title: “Zakopane.” A dark (night time?) shot of a river, with a woman in a red dress running alongside it, followed immediately by a daytime shot of horse drawn carriages. A man in an animal costume tilts his head at the camera, people walk down a rural sidewalk while carts (and one car) drive by, a shot of the man in the animal costume walking across the street, a woman in traditional costume holding a baby. Pan up, roaring stream, interspersed by shots of a wealthy man and woman sitting in a horse drawn carriage. 01:07:14:11 Title: “The High Tatra.” Pan, a herd of sheep grazing in a field, with heavily forested mountains in the BG. 01:07:52:23 Title: “Lake Morskie Oko.” Pan, a woman and two children are briefly seen on a dock by the lake, a series of (poorly lit) shots of the mountains surrounding the lake. Pan, several shots of a small waterfall. 01:09:37:09 Title: “Czechoslovakia.” Pan, mountains. 01:09:53:01 Title: “Štrebské Pleso.” Pan, mountains, with a ski jump faintly seen in the distance. Pan, a castle like building (possibly the modern day Grand Hotel Kempinski High Tatras) with the word “Reštaurácia” written on the side, people in a driveway to the hotel looking down into the valley. Pan, an outdoor cafe next to the hotel, large crowds of people are eating, waiters serving them. A couple looks at cloth (lacework? clothing) being sold. Pan, another shot of the driveway and the valley below. 01:10:58:21 Title: “Great Slovak Valley from Štrebské Pleso.” Pan, the valley. 01:11:26:09 Title: “Slovak Costumes.” (note, the title card has an apparent error in it; for a few frames before it cuts, the title card instead reads “Saratoga Springs”) 01:11:36:18 Title: “Važec.” Pan, dozens of ducks walk down a dirt road, young children playing with them, CUs of the ducks. Pan, a valley with bundles of wheat in the FG, and mountains in the BG. A brief downward shot of a woman crossing a dirt road, a farmer walking alongside a cart pulled by two oxen that contain bundles of wheat, the man occasionally whipping them. The rear of the cart, someone sitting on top of the hay as the cart drives away. Pan, a series of rural buildings in a small village (never stated, but due to its relative location and architecture, possibly Vlkolínec), with villagers occasionally walking into frame. 01:12:49:12 Title: “Ružomberok.” Pan, people walking along the street, clotheslines strung up between buildings with black clothes hanging from them. 01:13:03:05 Title: “Žilina.” Pan, stalls selling produce are set up in the city center, a building has a sign that says “Buducnost” (Slovak for “The future”). 01:13:18:15 Title: “Along the Váh River.” A shot of a castle on top of a hill on the other side of the river (the castle may possibly be Považský castle). 01:13:34:14 Title: “Trenčianska Teplá.” Pan, a crowd of people in traditional costume walks by the camera towards a specific destination (possibly the church), ducks bathing under a water mill. Townspeople in traditional costume walking by the camera down the dirt paths of the village. 01:14:59:15 Title: “Piešťany.” Pan, People sitting on the Kolonádový most as a couple walks down the bridge towards the camera. Cut to a promenade by a river, with two men leaning against the riverside railing, as four nuns walk past them towards the camera. Two women in traditional costume holding hands and walking towards the camera. Pan, the western entrance of the Kolonádový most, starting on a statue of a man bending metal, and then right. Groups of people (including 3 or so Hasidic Jews) walk across the bridge, which has the words “Saluberrimae Piestenienses Thermae” written on the entrance (Latin for “The wholesome Piešťany Spa”). A brief shot of a group of women standing next to bicycles, and a horse-drawn carriage approaching the camera. 01:15:45:09 Title: “Trenčianske Teplice.” Pan, panoramic view of the town as seen from (presumably) a balcony. 01:16:17:21 Title: “Jihlava.” a series of panning shots of people in a town square, where a market is set up. Cars, trucks, and trolleys line the perimeter of the square, and the clothing is mostly contemporaneous, with some of the older merchants wearing more traditional clothes. Men occasionally walk bicycles through the square. 01:17:33:03 Title: “Žleby Castle.” Pan, a tracking shot of a woman walking along a dirt path, the angle of the shot indicating that the camera is somewhere in the castle itself, pans over to the EXT of the castle. Castle, shot from the ground. 01:17:58:14 Title: “Čáslav...Žižka Tomb.” Pan, a black car drives up a bend and stops in front of the Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Čáslav. Jump cut to a man in a white overcoat (the driver from before) opening the car door. Front entrance of the church. 01:18:28:08 Title: “End of Part One.”
Horse show
Film
“Filmováno komorou Ciné Kodak OSM Na Panchro-Filmu Ciné Kodak OSM” A group of men on horseback entering a riding rink. 5 men sitting on a balcony, two of them are wearing Czechoslovak military uniforms, and while the person to the left of them seems to be a major politician (possibly president Benes?). Another group of horseback riders enter the rink, with two white horses leading. Two white horses are also in the rear of the group, and they in turn are followed by six men on what appear to be miniature cars. The horseback riders and the tractor riders line up in the center of the rink. The riders re-enter the stadium, only this time, they are organized so that two tractors are in between groups of three horseback riders, as they go around the circumference of the rink. More shots of the horses and tractors riding beside each other. President Benes sits on the balcony, now flanked by just two men: one in a military uniform, and the other in a suit and tie. The three men are seen talking amongst themselves. Pan, a group of men in military uniforms standing in the right hand corner of the President. Horseback riders and the tractors, many more shots of horseback riders doing stunts with their horses. Kodak logo.
London
Film
Pan, front of soot covered building, a couple walks by, camera pans up. 01:00:41:05 Large crowd gathered in front of building, man walks in front of the camera, pan up. 01:01:26:06 Pan, “The Old Curiosity Shop. Charles Dickens” (13-14 Portsmouth Street, Holborn, London), groups of people in front, van passes by, “T.H. Bull & Sons Ltd.” 01:01:51:09 Pan, tudor style building. 01:02:04:15 Pan, ornate building. 01:02:47:08 Pan, private garden. 01:03:24:20 Pan, Same ornate building.
