Concentration Camps: 1933-1945
This collection pertains to the German concentration camp (KZ) system during the Holocaust. The following motion picture records are genuine and constitute the Nazi state's most insidious and sinister mechanizations employed by the SS prior to the outbreak of the war in 1939.
Concentration Camp Sachsenhausen [c. 1933]
Orig. title: "Konzentrationslager Sachsenhausen" 1933 80 min. sound B/W HD guage: 16mm Copyright: PD.
Early vintage Nazi propaganda film depicting the construction and operation of the newly opened Sachsenhausen concentration camo which would become an infamous symbol of the tyranny of Nazi Germany during the Holocaust. This film was originally released on March 2, 1933.
The Death Mills [c. 1945]
Orig. title: "Die Todesmuehlen" 1945 U.S. Department of War 28 min. B/W sound HD guage: 35mm Copyright: PD.
1945 U.S./German informational film directed by Billy Wilder and produced by the U.S. Department of War intended for German cinema audiences in order to educate them about barbaric Nazi atrocities committed during the Holocaust. Camps covered in this film are Hadamar (Aktion T-4 program), Majdanek death camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau, Buchenwald and others.
Auschwitz Tribunal in Cracow [c. 1948]
Orig. title: "Auschwitz Prozess in Krakau" 1948 Welt im Film 155 min. B/W sound HD guage: 16mm Copyright: PD.
Postwar film documentation on the Auschwitz Tribunal held at Cracow, Poland in which Nazi camp guards were held responsible for their heinous crimes against humanity during the Holocaust.
The Fuehrer gives a Town to the Jews [c. 1943/44]
Orig. title: "Der Fuehrer schenkt den Juden eine Stadt" 1943/44 Aktualia-Film 45 min. B/W sound HD guage: 35mm Copyright: TF.
Slanted Nazi propaganda purporting to be a visual example of the "typical" concentration camps being operated by the German authorities in occupied Europe. Due to rumors of mistreatment of camp inmates, the SD high command under Reinhard Heydrich ordered that a propaganda film be produced depicting the concentration camp Thereisenstadt as an "idyllic paradise in the east." Camp inmate Kurt Gerron, who had been a leading figure in the Berlin film world during the Weimar era was forced to direct this obscene film. Following the film's completion, Gerron along with the remainder of the camp's inmate population were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau where they were never heard from again. RESTRICTED.
Concentration Camp Bergen-Belsen [c. 1946]
Orig. title: "Konzentrationslager Bergen-Belsen" 1946 Welt im Film 21 min. B/W sound HD guage: 16mm Copyright: IWM/TF.
Film documentation on the liberation of Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in 1945 by British armed forces front-line cameramen. This segment is the unedited material utilized in the Welt im Film newsreel company under Allied supervision during the postwar period. Contains graphic scenes of the condition of the camp and inmates at time of liberation in 1945. It is a visual testament to the barbarism of Nazi Germany during the Holocaust. RESTRICTED.
Christmas Party for Children from Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp [c. 1945]
Orig. title: "Weihnachtsfest fuer Kinder aus Konzentrationslager Bergen-Belsen" 1945 Welt im Film 17 min. B/W sound HD guage: 16mm Copyright: IMW/TF.
Documentation on a special Christmas celebration given in honor of the liberated children interned in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp by British armed forces at the close of the war in 1945. This film also includes a segment on the International Military Tribunal held at Nuremberg the same year. RESTRICTED.
Hamburg and Concentration Camp Buchenwald after the War's End [c. 1945]
Orig. title: "Hamburg und KZ Buchenwald nach Kriegsende" 1945 Allied Expeditionary Forces 30 min. B/W sound HD guage: 16mm Copyright: IWM/TF.
Historic documentation on the Allied liberation of Buchenwald near Hamburg by military personnel in the spring of 1945. Discusses the relationship between the city of Hamburg and the sinister Buchenwald concentration camp. RESTRICTED.
Second Anniversary of the Liberation of the Buchenwald Concentration Camp [c. 1947]
Orig. title: "Zweite Jahrestag der Befreiung des Konzentrationslager Buchenwald" 1947 Die Augenzeuge newsreel company 53 min. B/W sound HD guage: 16mm Copyright: PD.
Postwar newsreel magazine produced in the Western Sector of occupied Germany depicting the second anniversary of the Allied liberation of the Buchenwald concentration camp in the spring of 1945. Depicts the horrors of Buchenwald as they were revealed to the world when the gates of the infamous camp were opened by victorious liberators of Allied forces.
Report on Buchenwald and Sachsenhausen Concentration Camps [c. 1950]
Orig. title: "Bericht ueber die Konzentrationslager Buchenwald and Sachsenhausen" 1950 117 min. B/W sound HD guage: 16mm Copyright: PD.
Newsreel-style postwar documentary film produced by the Allied Military Government of Germany in 1950. The film chronicles the history of the two camps and the sinister role they played in the terror state of the Third Reich during the Holocaust.
Anniversary of the Liberation of the Dachau Concentration Camp [c. 1946]
Orig. title: "Jahrestag der Befreiung im Konzenstrationslager Dachau" 1946 U.S. Signal Corps 42 min. B/W sound HD guage: 16mm Copyright: PD.
Postwar American documentation on the one year anniversary of the Allied liberation of the infamous Dachau concentration camp which played a particular sinister role during the Holocaust.