Postwar Holocaust Documentaries: 1945-2020
The collection of postwar Holocaust documentaries includes authentic vintage non-fictional film material, including newsreels, documentaries, including compilation productions created by filmmakers of many disciplines from varied nations spanning over twenty years.
Camps of the Dead [c. 1947]
Orig. title: "Lager der Toten" 1947 U.S. Army Signial Corps 12 min. B/W HD sound guage: 16mm 24 f.p.s. Copyright: Public Domain.
American-produced documentary film short record of the Allied liberation of various Nazi concentration camps at the close of the war, including Buchenwald, Dachau and Ohrdrug as captured on motion picture film by Allied front-line combat cameramen in 1945. A special version had been produced in German which was released in theatres to civilians incorporated into newsreel programs prior to the main feature attraction.
Death Mills [c. 1945]
U.S. Department of War 1945 22 min. B/W sound HD guage: 16mm 24 f.p.s. Copyright: Public Domain.
Hollywood director Billy Wilder's filmed documentation primarily designed for theatrical exhibition to German civilian audiences to re-educate them about the heinous wartime atrocities committed by the Nazi regime. The American version was directed by Wilder and served as supervisor of the editing of the production. A seperate version had also been produced (also in our archive) entitled "Die Todesmuehlen" ('The Death Mills') written and directed by Hanus Burger. Wilder had originally been credited as the director of the German versiin bust later commented: "i didn't direct anything as there wasn't anything toi direct." "Death Mills" is an edited version of the documentary "German Concentration Camps Factual Survey" (1945), a British government-produced film that had not been completed until nearly seven decades later. "Die Todesmuehlen," the German version was exhibited in German theatres in cities in the Western Sector of occupied Germany in 1946.
Nazi Concentration Camps [c. 1945]
Orig. title: "Nazi Concentration and Prison Camps" 1945 U.S. Department of War 59 min. B/W sound guage: 16mm 24 f.p.s. Copyright: Public Domain except Bergen-Belsen film material maintained by the Imperial War Museum (IWM).
American-produced documentation on the liberation of Nazi concentration and prison camps by Allied armed forces was produced by Hollywood director John Ford and directed by future movie director George Stevens. This film was entered into as evidence for the Prosecution at the International Military Tribunal held at Nuremberg, and once again as evidence in the Eichmann Trial in Jerusalem from April 2 to August 14, 1961. As evidence, the effect on those who viewed the film first at Nuremberg on November 29, 1945 had been emotionally overwhelming as it graphically depicted shocking scenes both the trial judges and defendants, who were forced to adjorn the proceedings due to their nauseaus physical condition after viewing the film. The archival film material depicts the human liberations of twelve concentration camps in Austria, Germany, Belgium, Leipzig, Penig, Ohrdruf, Hadamar, Breendonk, Hannover, Arnstadt, Nordhausen, Mathausen, Buchenwald, Dachau, and Bergen-Belsen.
Nazi Murder Mills [c. 1945]
Orig. title: "German Concentration Camps Factual Survey" Production: British Ministry of Information 1945 30 min. B/W sound HD guage: 16mm 24 f.p.s. Copyright: IWM.
British wartime documentary film on Nazi concentration camps, based on filmed footage by Allied forces during liberation in 1945. The production was produced by Sidney Bernstein then with the British Ministry of Information with movie director Alfred Hitchcock acting as "treatment advisor." The script was penned by Richard Crossman and Colin Wills. Regretfully, the film project was cancelled in September 1945, hence the film was left unfinished and abandoned for nearly seventy years. Billy Wilder utilized some of the footage contained in the film in his documentary "Death Mills" (1946).
Funeral Pyres of Nazism [c. 1945]
Universal Newsreels 1945 10 min. B/W sound HD guage: 16mm 24 f.p.s. Copyright: Public Domain.
Wartime newsreel issue produced by Universal Newsreels in 1945 docu,menting Allied funerals for Nazi concentration camp murdered victims in the spring of 1945 following liberation. Depicts American advance thru Austria and into the heart of Bavaria in Munich, Nuremberg, etc. upon liberation of Dachau concentration camp. Other contemporary newsworthy events are depicts in this short newsreel as well.
Nazis Face War Crime Evidence [c. 1945]
Universal Newsreels 1945 10 min. B/W sound HD guage: 16mm 24 f.p.s. Copyright: Public Domain.
Wartime weekly newsreel produced by Universal Newsreels in 1945 reporting on the activities of the International Military Tribunal held at Nuremberg during 1945-46 in which leading accusaged defendants included Hermann Goering, Rudolf Hess, Julius Streicher, Hans Frank, and numerous other on trial for war crimes and other heinous Nazi atrocities during the Holocaust.
Hitler's Heyday [c. 1947]
Universal Newsreels 1947 5:58 B/W sound HD guage: 16mm 24 f.p.s. Copyright: Public Domain.
American-produced postwar newsreel depicting scenes from the seized Eva Braun home movies which was shown to the public for the first time since they were taken by U.S. troops at Hitler's mountain retreat "the Eagle's Nest" in Berchtesgaden. These were the first postwar image of Hitler and his cronies, and friends while vacationing at the mountain retreat. SEE ALSO: "The Personal and Private Film Collection of Eva Braun" in 'Pre-Holocaust Nazi Propaganda: 1920-1939.'
Atonement for Auschwitz [c. 1948]
Orig. title: "Suehne fuer Auschwitz" 1948 Welt im Film 28 min. B/W sound HD guage: 16mm 24 f.p.s. Copyright: TF.
Postwar west German newsreel produced by Welt im Film ('The World in Film') released on January 8, 1948. The film depicts the well-known Auschwitz Tribunal which took place on November 24, 1947 in Cracow, when Poland's Supreme National Tribunal tried forty former SS staff of the Auschwitz-Birkenau camps. The torturing of prisoners in Auschwitz who had already been tormented to the extreme was that the evidence of inhuman savagery perpetuated by those defendants, who as a result of the tribunal were sentenced to death.
Trial of the Century: Eichmann tried for War Crimes [c. 1961]
Universal Newsreels 1961 28 min. B/W sound HD guage: 16mm 24 f.p.s. Copyright: Public Domain.
Official American newsreel special report on the Israeli trial of major Holocaust perpetrator Adolf Eichmann in 1960-1961 who had been captured in Argentina by Israeli Mossad agents and brought to Israel to stand trial for Nazi atrocities. This film depicts excerpts from his trial, which opened on April 11, 1961, was broadcast on Israeli television as well as shown internationally, intended to educate people about the monstrous crimes against European Jews, when had been secondary to the Nuremberg Trials. Eichmann was charged with fifteen counts of violating the 'Nazis and Nazi Collaborators (Punishment) Law.' Eichmann was indicted on all fifteen counts, and was sentenced to death, and was hanged on June 1, 1962 at Ramia Prison. Depicts actual legal proceedings against Eichmann which took place before the Jewish people and the entire civilized world.
Guilty 1947
Orig. title: "Coupable" 1947 French Justice Ministry 4:44 min. B/W HD sound Copyright: Public Domain.
Short French newsreel-type production created by the French Justice Ministry in 1947 depicting the tribunal of Marshal Petain who was a Nazi collaborator and a figurehead for the Vichy regime which had been complecient in heinous Nazi crimes and atrocities in France during the Holocaust. Depicts actual courtroom legal proceedings against Petain in 1947.
Schindler 1983
Thames Television 1983 71 min. Color/B&W sound HD Copyright: Thames Television.
Feature-length historical documentation on the life of Oskar Schindler produced by Thames Television in 1983. Contains authentic historical photographs, actual archival footage of Schindler and his time as well as filmed interviews of those who knew of his great deeds for saving doomed Jews during the Holocaust.
Kristallnacht: the Journey from 1938 to 1988 (1988)
WETA 1988 57 min. Color/B&W sound HD Copyright: WETA.
Documentary film produced by WETA (Denver) to commemorate the fifith anniversary of the Nazi pogrom known as "Kristallnacht" or the "Night of Broken Glass" which took place in Germany during November 9-10, 1938 which was the first violent action taken by German Jews by civilians.
The Reunion [c. 1946]
Orig. title: "Le Retour" 1946 Direction: Henri CartierBresson, Richard Banks 34 min. B/W sound HD Copyright: Public Domain.
This well-known postwar documentary film short depicts the liberation and return journey - on foot, by aircraft or truck of French prisoners freed from Nazi concentration camps in the spring of 1945. This short film manages to capture the human pain, misery, and joy, the incredulous faces, marked by utter fear and waiting at border checks, but also they hesitant smiles once they arrive by railway and begin watching for loved ones' faces. NOTE: prints in both original French and English commentary versions are contained in our archive.
Auschwitz-Birkenau: an Archival Film Record Part I. [c. 2020]
LoweFilm 2020 58 min. silent Color HD guage: 16mm Copyuright: LoweFilm.
Contemporary documentary film record of Auschwitz-Birkenau as it appeared in 2020. This documentary footage is intended for usage in non-fictional compilations and other productions such as television.