Compilation footage of Nazi concentration camps in the immediate aftermath
of World War II. The footage was gathered by the US Department of Defense
as part of the effort to conduct war crimes trials. The six reels presented
below make up the entirety of this graphic film.
Reel 1:
Army Lt. Col. George C. Stevens, Navy Lt. E. Ray Kellogg and U.S. Chief
of Counsel Robert H. Jackson read exhibited affidavits which attest to
authenticity of scenes in film. Map of Europe shows locations of concentration
camps in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechoslovokia, Danzing, Denmark,
France, Germany, Isle of Jersey, Latvia, Netherlands, Poland and Yugoslavia.
At Leipsig Concentration Camp, there are piles of dead bodies, and many
living Russian, Czechoslovakian, Polish and French prisoners. At Penig
Concentration Camp, Hungarian women and others display wounds. Doctors
treat patients and U.S. Red Cross workers move them to German Air Force
hospital where their former captors are forced to care for them.
Reel 2:
At Ohrdruf Concentration Camp, inspection team composed of Allied military
leaders, members of U.S. Congress and local townspeople tours camp. Among
them are Generals Dwight David Eisenhower, Supreme Headquaters Allied
Expeditionary Forces commander; Omar Nelson Bradley; and George S. Patten.
General Eisenhower speaks with Congressmen. They see bodies heaped on
grill at crematorium and Polish, Czechoslovakian, Russian, Belgian, German
Jews and German political prisoners. Col. Heyden Sears, Combat Command
A, 4th Armored Division commander, forces local townspeople to tour camp.
U.S. officers arrive at Hadamar Concentration Camp, where Polish, Russian
and German political and religious dissidents were murdered. Maj. Herman
Boelke of U.S. War Crimes Investigation Team (WCIT) examines survivors.
Bodies are exhumed from mass graves for examination, identification and
burial. Four-man panel interviews facility director Dr. Waldman and chief
male nurse Karl Wille.
Reel 3:
At Breendonck Concentration Camp, Belgium, methods of torture are demonstrated.
At Harlan Concentration Camp near Hannover, U.S. Red Cross aides Polish
survivors. Allied troops and able-bodied survivors bury dead. At Arnstadt
Concentration Camp, German villagers are forced to exhume Polish and Russian
bodies from mass graves.
Reel 4:
At Nordhausen Concentration Camp, there are piles of bodies. Troops treat,
feed and remove survivors who are mainly Polish, Russian and French. At
Mauthausen Concentration Camp, Navy Lt. Jack H. Taylor stands with fellow
survivors and describes his capture, imprisonment and conditions at Mauthausen.
Volunteers bathe victims.
Reel 5:
At Buchenwald Concentration Camp, Army trucks arrive with aid for survivors.
Piles of dead, mutilated and emaciated bodies. Some survivors among dead.
Huge ovens and piles of bone ash on floor of crematorium. Civilians from
nearby Weimar are forced to tour camp. They see exhibits of lampshades
made of human skin, and two shrunken heads.
Reel.6:
British commander of Royal Artillery describes conditions at Bergen-Belsen
Concentration Camp. German Army Schutzstaffel (SS) troops are forced to
bury dead and aid survivors. Woman doctor, former prisoner, describes
conditions in female section of camp. Belson commander Kramer is taken
into custody. German guards bury dead. Bulldozer pushes piles of bodies
into mass graves.
Run time: 51:56
Audio/Visual: sound, Black & White
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