Germans advance in Russia; Field Marshall Busch, General Zorn
Creator(s)
- Bundesarchiv (Germany). Filmarchiv
- Heeresfilmstelle (Producer)
Scope and Content
Reel 1: 00:00:11 Russian peasants carrying belongings down a dirt road. Large group of civilians lined up outside wooden building with sign in Cyrillic, "Bakadjea - Gastronomia" (delicatessen shop). CU of waiting civilians, man with bandaged head, women holding children, etc. Men, women, children - apparently Slavs. Friendly atmosphere. An old woman rolls a cigarette. 00:02:53 Soldiers firing artillery in the forest. German soldier in a foxhole talks on a field phone and writes on a piece of paper. Pan of ruined buildings, industrial installation? Pan of a damaged lock on a canal. Random shots of civilians and Russian POWs gathered in a wooded area, cooking, eating. Panning shot of Soviet soldiers lined up in front of a several German officers at a table. German soldiers frisking Russian soldiers. Men work on a bridge with a pile driver operating behind them. 00:09:40 Closeup Field Marshall Ernst Busch, seated in jeep. Officer behind him taking still photograph. Gen. Zorn (?) saluting him before jeep drives off. Panning shot of the treeline of a forest with movement in the forest. Soldiers man anti-aircraft guns. 00:13:00 Propaganda leaflet falls from the sky: "Statt Freiheit und Brot bringt Hitler uns Tod" (Instead of freedom and bread, Hitler delivers us death)-on the leaflet is a woman holding a child next to a soldier's grave. Panning shots of a charred area in a forest littered with debris/large tank. Reel 2: 00:13:44 Vehicles in deep mud; very slow progress through villages and countryside. "L" marking on vehicles stuck in mud. Trucks, transports, tanks. Troops on foot along road, in forest. A halftrack pulls a truck stuck in mud. SS on helmets in a forest repair a communication line. 00:16:25 Friendly local men get cigarettes from German soldiers. Lighting up. Locals digging trench along road. Horse drawn carts, military car with markings. Log road under construction by locals, supervised by Germans. 00:19:21 More of vehicles stuck in mud, getting towed, German soldiers. Troops removing overcoats. Pan of wide field, men moving across and various activities, moving logs, breath is visible. More of log road construction. 00:23:04 Division marking on vehicle, closeup: Greif (and claw symbol). Soldiers throwing hand grenades, subsequent explosions in a hilly open area. Artillery fire and explosions. Reel 3: 00:27:09 Long lines of vehicles stopped on road in countryside with fir trees. Many German officers standing, looking at map. Pan of scores of vehicles in midst of what appears to be advance. Impressive scene of scale, unclear why they are pausing. Men around small campfire. Burning vehicle, close view. Difficult and slow advance, across log bridge, through mud. Large group of German soldiers entering a house, women standing nearby watching. Destroyed airplane/material. Classic scenes of Russian landscape defeating the German Wehrmacht. Motorcycle troops stuck in mud, pushing each other's cycles. Burning vehicle blocking a road through the forest, German soldiers warily watching from a distance. 00:32:11 Intriguing scene in the forest, several people visible, some hidden at first-not sure what is taking place, perhaps capture of a Soviet soldier? More shots of the burning vehicle. German soldiers entering a town. Soldiers working to clear a bridge, vehicles waiting. Soldiers push a car through the mud. Soldiers on motorcycles work to cross debris-filled bridge, push motorcycles/clean mud from motorcycle. German soldiers carry logs to build bridge, vehicles crossing bridge. Panning shot of a farmhouse/buildings with sign on post: "Grisino-Strasse". Other signs. Shots of a bombed out train yard/warehouse buildings (?) and surrounding area-completely decimated. Several quick shots of street signs. Views of a Russian dugout/trench filled with water.
Note(s)
See departmental files for more detailed information in German from the Bundesarchiv.
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
- SOVIET UNION
- POWS (SOVIET)
- EATING
- BRIDGES
- COMMUNICATIONS
- DESTRUCTION
- MILITARY VEHICLES
- ZORN, HANS
- CAMERAS
- FORESTS
- PROPAGANDA
- TRENCHES
- MAPS
- CIVILIANS
- PEASANTS
- MILITARY ADVANCES
- LEAFLETS
- MUD
- RUBBLE
- SEARCHES
- MOTORCYCLES
- PHOTOGRAPHS
- AIRPLANES
- MILITARY OFFICERS
- WEHRMACHTSAUFNAHMEN
- WEAPONS/ARMS
- GRAVES
- WOMEN
- FIRES
- CHILDREN
- SS (SCHUTZSTAFFEL)
- TRAIN STATIONS
- SOVIETS
- CAMERA OPERATORS
- BOMBINGS
- SOLDIERS/MILITARY (GERMAN)
- WEHRMACHT (GERMAN ARMY)
Places
- , Soviet Union
Genre
- Unedited.
- Film
Copies
-
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum holds copies of Holocaust-relevant archives from Bundesarchiv, Berlin-Lichterfelde (Abteilung Filmarchiv)