German radio communications; Gen. Zorn and German military prepare for advance
Creator(s)
- Heeresfilmstelle (Producer)
- Bundesarchiv (Germany). Filmarchiv
Scope and Content
Reel 1: 00:00:00 Klappe 2-Lo 55: German soldiers swinging in a double swing with others looking on. Officers looking at orders. Soldiers walking through a field, with one soldier operating a radio(?) in a trench. Two Russian soldiers surrendering to a German soldier, with their hands raised. The German soldier looks at their papers. German soldiers firing a machine gun as other soldiers advance. Military vehicles moving through a town as soldiers mill around. CU of a soldier holding a map gesturing to other soldiers. German soldiers enter a house to search it. Klappe 4-Lo 57: Several different shots of two soldiers laying a communication wire. Reel 2: 00:03:11 Klappe 1-Lo 58: German soldier receiving mail. Several different shots of soldiers operating a small caliber gun and a Howitzer, with a town in the background. German soldiers laying communication lines. Another group of soldiers firing a Howitzer. Klappe 2-Lo 60: Several different perspectives of soldiers operating grenade launchers in a wooded area, with brief shots of explosions in the distance. German soldiers advancing slowly through a brushy area. Soldiers operating a large caliber gun in a village. Klappe 3-Lo 61: A group of German officers talking. CU of Zorn talking on a field phone. Zorn climbing aboard a halftrack. Panning shot of the woods and a road with soldiers standing nearby. More panning shots of the area, which Zorn seems to be surveying. Klappe 4-Lo 62: Armed soldiers looking through binoculars into the distance. German soldiers assembled in a village. Soldiers marching through a wooded area. Soldiers using a machine to make ammunition belts for a machine gun. CUs of two soldiers fixing telephone lines/hooking up a field phone to a line and talking on it/stringing additional wire through a wooded area. Reel 4: 00:13:49 Klappe 1-Lo71: CU of a German lookout using a telescope and giving a report by telephone. Several German scouts sneaking next to a river bank and studying the opposite bank with telescopes/binoculars. Intermittent panning shots of the opposite bank. Klappe 2-Lo 72: Wide shot of a car driving towards several electric radio towers(?) in the background. Camera follows a soldier as he climbs a large metal tower with a platform on the top. Klappe 3-Lo 73: Wide shot of a muddy open space in a forest with vehicles moving in the background (barely visible). Panning shot of a soldier driving a motorcycle, with a couple buildings in the background. Shot of two soldiers pushing a motorcycle through a muddy area. Panning shots of the wooden buildings of a village. A soldier drives a team of horses in the area of the village with two soldiers walking behind. CU of a soldier cooking in a field kitchen. CU of soldiers working a forge shoeing horses. Klappe 4-Lo 75: A soldier removes a small artillery shell from a wooden carrying case, with CU. CU of the label on the case, reads "Weiß-Rot Geschoß". The soldier puts the shell back into the case and places it with a pile of other cased artillery shells and hides them with tree branches. A trio of planes fly over head, followed by a panning shot of a series of explosions in a wooded area. Several shots of hobbled horses in a wooded area, with a hay wagon supplying the horses. CU of horses eating. Klappe 4-Lo 76: Panning shot of a camouflaged German radio post, with a CU of the radio operator sending messages using Morse code. German military entering and milling about in a small town. Several German soldiers on motorcycles drive around a large farmhouse. CU of General Zorn talking with a recipient of the Knight's Cross in a dark room, followed by a CU of the soldier, laughing and smiling. View of a people and vehicles crossing a makeshift pontoon bridge leading into a severely damaged city. Reel 5: 00:26:57 Klappe 1-Lo 79: Several different shots of German soldiers constructing a wooden road over a muddy forest road. Different views of military trucks (of the 20th Infantry Division) struggling through a muddy section of road, with some needing to be pushed and towed. Different views of a military brass band playing in the courtyard of a brick building with it snowing. Klappe 2-Lo 80: General Zorn walking out of a building, followed by an officer with an Iron Cross. The two shake hands formally in front of the building. Panning shots of a snowy village, with soldiers working. A soldier unloads a large sack of cereal from a truck. Shots of several passenger cars and busses leaving a village. A long line of military trucks (symbols prominent on fenders) driving down a road, followed by a CU of a signpost reading "EisbPiRgl.4; Einheit 09946; Schwerin". Several different shots of snow covered vehicles and buildings. Klappe 3-Lo 82: A military truck drives down a snowy road in a forest; panning shots of the forest and a wooden bunker. A truck turns around on a snow-covered road in the forest. Convoys of military vehicles moving through the forest. Klappe 5-Lo 87: In the snow, a military band plays in front of a large wooden house to two figures standing on a porch. CUs of the different band members playing their instruments. An official car pulls up in front of the wooden house, a General Bussche exits the car (almost falls on the ice) and is greeted by General Zorn. Different shots of a building engulfed in flames at night; one shot with the silhouette of a soldier in front of the flames; closer view of the building, crowds of running people are visible next to it; CUs of the flames.
Note(s)
See departmental files for more detailed information in German from the Bundesarchiv. USHMM copied 34 of approximately 110 meters from Reel 1; Reels 2, 4 and 5 were copied in their entirety.
Conditions of Use and/or Copyright updated. Correspondence from Bundesarchiv in May 2023, initially sent to Leslie Swift states: Public Domain. However, since copyright law may differ between the U.S. and Germany, Use statement U3 is being applied.
Subjects
- VILLAGES
- BANDS
- BRIDGES
- BUSES
- FOOD
- DESTRUCTION
- WEHRMACHTSAUFNAHMEN
- FIRES
- MARCHING
- MILITARY VEHICLES
- HORSES
- SIGNS/POSTERS
- ZORN, HANS
- MAPS
- AIRPLANES
- BOMBINGS
- MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
- SOLDIERS/MILITARY (SOVIET)
- KITCHENS
- SNOW
- TANKS
- COMMUNICATIONS
- MOTORCYCLES
- TRUCKS
- CAMOUFLAGE
- WEAPONS/ARMS
- ARTILLERY
- SOLDIERS/MILITARY (GERMAN)
- IRON CROSS
Places
- , Soviet Union
Genre
- Film
- Unedited.
Copies
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United States Holocaust Memorial Museum holds copies of Holocaust-relevant archives from Bundesarchiv, Berlin-Lichterfelde (Abteilung Filmarchiv)