Die Deutsche Wochenschau is the title of the unified newsreel series released in the cinemas of Nazi Germany from June 1940 until the end of World War II, with the final edition issued on 22 March 1945. The co-ordinated newsreel production was set up as a vital instrument for the mass distribution of Nazi propaganda at war.
In this Die Deutsche Wochenschau video:
It features footage from the evacuation of children away from areas threatened by air raids, footage of a Goebbels speech in Dortmund, and of the return of Finnish SS-volunteers to Finland.
Other scenes include footage from the Italian Navy Day in Rome, including the awarding of Italian medals to German Navy officers, footage from a German U-Boat School, and some combat footage from the area around Leningrad, as well as from the Kuban bridgehead.
Remarks:
00:58 The sign on this boat reads “KLV Ship transports Berlin-Pommerania-Berlin”.
The ships name is “Wintermärchen II” which translates to “Winter Fairytale II”. The Wintermärchen II was a 32m long river steam cruise ship. It was built in 1882 (or 1890, sources vary) in Amsterdam. In 1895, the ship was sold to a shipping line in Düsseldorf, which sold it again in 1906 to a Berlin shipping line. It was used for river cruises on the Spree and Oder river. The ship initially had a capacity of 350; from 1937 onwards, 309 passengers. It was known as a luxurious ship; equipped with a saloon, a concert room and it was heated, something rare for river ships back then. It survived WWII, was completely rebuilt in the early 1960s, doubling the lengths to 67m and equipped with Diesel engines, and was the only domestic cruise ship of East Germany. It was wrecked in 1994.
01:10 During WWII, Germany evacuated young children from big cities to the countryside, to save them from air bombings of cities. These programs were known as Kinderlandverschickung (Relocating of children to the countryside). This program was created after the first heavy air raid on Berlin in September 1940, and until the end of WWII, over 2 million children were sent away to camps in the countryside. There was a great deal of resistance from parents who were afraid their children would be mistreated or didn’t want to be separated from their kids for year. The program was in theory voluntarily, but pressure was applied to parents who didn’t want to send away their kids. Great Britain had similar programs, evacuating big cities of children and women during WWII.
02:34 This is the flag of the Hitler Youth, the youth organization of the Nazi party.
03:19 The tank on the left is a StuH 42 assault gun. When the regular StuG III was used more and more as a tank destroyer, a dedicated assault gun was built, armed with 10,5cm howitzer gun. From 1942 to the end of the war, 1,317 tanks were built. Since the StuH 42 was only built by the Alkett company in Berlin, this footage is probably from the Alkett factory.
03:32 Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt (1900-1973) was a German conductor and composer. He studied Music in Berlin, Heidelberg and Münster, and received his PhD in Music in 1923. He became a conductor in Rostock from 1928 to 1931, and from 1931 to 1933 General Director at the Hessian State Theater in Darmstadt. In 1934, he became conductor at the Hamburg State Theater. In order to further advance his career in Nazi Germany, he divorced his Jewish wife in 1935. He became part of the leadership of the German Opera in Berlin in 1943, and Music Director in 1944. After WWII, he continued his career without problems, as he was one of the few high-ranking conductors in Germany who never joined the Nazi Party, creating and leading the NDR Orchestra from 1945 to 1971. He died in 1973.
05:00 To replace male personnel, over half a million women were employed by the Wehrmacht during WWII. They served as auxiliary forces, usually as signal troops, operating telegraphs or telephones, but from 1943 onwards also with searchlight batteries or even on AA-guns.
07:08 The Westphalia Hall in Dortmund is a large conference and exhibition center in Dortmund. It was originally built in 1925, and before and during WWII, used for Nazi events, such as an election campaihgn speech by Hitler in March and October 1932. During WWII, a POW camp was also created on the grounds, housing up to 10,000 POWs, mostly Polish, Russian and French. It was destroyed during an air raid in May 1944, killing around 1,000 POWs. A new hall was built in the early 1950s, which still stands today.
07:12 This sign reads “Terror is broken by counterterror”, a phrase often used by the Nazis to describe their use of violence as a political weapon.
07:14 This sign reads “Führer give order, we follow!”
07:16 As Dortmund was in the center of the Ruhr region, Germanys primary coal and steel industrial region, as well as the center of large armament factories, such as Krupp, the city and the Ruhr region were bombed heavily during WWII. From early March to late July 1943, the so-called Battle of the Ruhr, a strategic bombing campaign by the RAF, was underway, where hundreds of bombers attacked dozens of targets in the area, one of the first time bombing raids had an lasting impact on German war industry, although the Allies overestimated the importance of for example the city of Essen for the German war industry. Dortmund, the city mentioned here, was heavily bombed twice during this campaign, the first time on the night of 4th to 5th May with 596 bombers, and the second time on the night of 23/24 May, with 826 bombers, causing thousands of buildings being destroyed and industrial targets heavily damaged.
07:23 This sign reads “Local group [of the Nazi party] Center listens to Dr. Goebbels in the Westphalia Hall”
07:35 Goebbels was born in Rheydt, a city in the Rhineland, and he often emphasized that while visiting these regions.
09:14 Referring to the German capitulation in November 1918 at the end of WWI.
10:52 This is a Soviet T-34/76 medium tanks. Many of these tanks that were destroyed or no longer operational were used to train German troops.
10:57 This is an Sd. Kfz. 221, a light German four-wheeled scout car during WWII. Built between 1935 and August 1940, 339 were made. It was initially armed only with an MG-34, but the vehicles that were still in service were fitted with a 2,8cm SPzB 41 heavy anti-tank rifle, turning the Sd. Kfz. 221 into a light AT-vehicle.
11:03 The Tellermine (TM) was a German anti-tank mine, introduced in 1935 with the Tellermine 35, and in late 1942, an improvised version, the TM 42, was introduced, followed by the TM 43 in March 1943. Several million of these AT-mines were made. These mines were sometimes used as improvised AT-weapons, were a TM was fitted with a delay fuse and was either placed or thrown onto an enemy tank.
11:21 The so called Haftholladung (“adhesive hollow charge”) was a magnetic shaped charge anti-tank grenade used by the Germans. Since it was magnetic, it could simply be sticked anywhere on an enemy tank, making the angle of enemy armor irrelevant. But since this required an infantryman to approach an enemy tank, it was also highly dangerous. It could penetrate up to 140mm of armor. 554,000 were produced from November 1942 to May 1944, which were almost all used, in March 1945, only around 59,000 still remained stockpiled.
11:54 Arturo Ricardi (1878-1966) was an Italian Admiral during WWII. He was a career officer, fighting in the Boxer Rebellion, the Far East Campaign of 1905 and WWI. He briefly served as chief of staff of the Navy Ministry in 1925, before being the commander of various naval units. In December 1940, he was made State Secretary of the Navy Ministry. Because Mussolini formally headed the War Ministry, the Italian branches were commanded by state secretaries, and Ricardi also became chief of staff of the Italian navy. He held that position until Mussolini was ousted and was forced to resign on 25th July 1943.
12:11 Friedrich Kemnade (1911-2008) was a German Naval Officer during and after WWII. He joined the German Navy in April 1931, and served as an officer on the light cruisers Königsberg and Nürnberg in 1935, before becoming commander of a Schnellboot fast attack craft in 1936. From May 1940 to early July 1943, Kemnade was the commander of the 3rd Schnellboot Flotilla, which operated in the Mediterranean Sea. He then served as an officer in the Navy Ministry until the end of WWII. After the war, he joined the new West German Navy in 1956, again serving in Schnellboot units. He retired in 1970.
12:13 The Italian Medal of Military Valor is an award which originated in the Kingdom of Sardinia in 1793, and was taken over when Italy was unified in 1861. There are three levels, Bronze, Silver and Gold; the medal is still being awarded today. It could also be awarded to cities, regions and military units, and several Bersaglieri and Alpini Regiments received the medal for fighting on the Eastern Front. During WWII, when Italy was allied with Germany, it was also given to various German officers. Two received it in Gold, the fighter aces Joachim Müncheberg and Hans-Joachim Marseille in August 1941, and a number of other officers in Silver, such as Erwin Rommel, Johannes Streich, Joachim Helbig and others.
12:19 Italy celebrates its Navy Day on June 10th, the anniversary of the sinking of the Austro-Hungarian dreadnought battleship SMS Szent Istvan in WWI by torpedoes launched from the Italian torpedo boat MAS-15 on June 10th, 1918.
12:45 Enzo Grossi (1908-1960) was an Italian submarine commander during WWII. He initially commanded the submarine Medusa from December 1938 to August 1941, and then the Barbarigo from August 1941 onwards. As a commander of the Barbarigo, Grossi claimed that he attacked and sunk two American battleships; this story was widely publisied in Italy and he was highly decorated for that, including two promotions. He was also awarded the German Iron Cross and Knights Cross for this sinking. After the armistice, he joined the Italian Social Republics Navy in September 1943 and commanded the 1st Atlantic Marine Infantry Division. After the war, he fled to Argentina. There were two inquiries into his actions, one in 1949, which concluded that he faked his story about sinking the two American battleships and stripped him of all ranks and medals. A second inquiry in 1962 found out that while he may believe he had sunk two American ships, he actually hadn’t, and the ships he attacked were the cruiser USS Milwaukee and the corvette HMS Petunia; both attacks missed. He died of cancer in 1960.
12:53 Curt Rechel (1902-1973) was a German Navy officer during WWII. Joining the German Navy as a cadet in 1922, he served as commander of a torpedo boat from 1936 to November 1938, when he became commander of the new destroyer Z11 Bernd von Arnim. With his destroyer, he took part in campaigns in the Danzig Bay, mining and convoy duty in the North Sea. During the invasion of Norway, his destroyer was in the Narvik harbor during the British counterattack. It got damaged and after shooting all his ammunition, Rechel gave the order to scuffle the ship. Afterwards, he commanded a Battalion of the Regiment made up of sailors and officers of the 10 German destroyers sunk in Narvik, and fought during the Battle of Narvik until the Allied retreat. In June 1941, he became commander of the new destroyer Z29, and in March 1943 of the destroyer ZG3 Hermes, the biggest German warship in the Mediterranean. On 21st April 1943, his ship sunk the British submarine HMS Splendid with depth charges; for this, he was awarded the Italian Medal of Military Valor in Silver and the Knights Cross of the Iron Cross. From June 1943 to August 1944 he was a staff officer of the German Navy Command Aegean Sea, and from October 1944 to the end of the war he served in the German Torpedo Research Center in Eckernförde. He was released from British captivity in November 1945.
18:03 This plane is a Ju-52 transport plane. Its marked as a Lufthansa plane, e.g. a civilian plane, not a Wehrmacht variant.
18:08 Felix Steiner (1896-1966) was a German Waffen-SS General. He joined the German Army as a volunteer in 1914, ending the war as a First Lieutenant, being decorated with both classes of the Iron Cross and the Wounded Badge. He left the Army in 1933 as a Major, joining the NSDAP and SA, where he tried to build up a new Army. He switched to the SS in 1935 and became commander of the SS-Standard “Germany” of the SS-VT, with which he took part in the attack on Poland and France. In August 1940, he was the first soldier of the Waffen-SS to receive the Knights Cross. In December 1940, he became commander of the SS-Division Wiking, a command which he held until March 1943, and where he was awarded with the German Cross in Gold in April 1942 and the Oak Leaves to his Knights Cross in December. From March 1943 to October 1944, he was commander of the III. SS- Tank Corps, and from January to March 1945, commander of the 11th Army. In late March 1945, he was made commander of the “Army Group Steiner”, a combination of a few weak and scattered units, and got the order by Hitler to relieve the besieged Berlin. Realizing this was impossible, he retreated with his troops. He became an American POW, and was released in April 1948. He wrote books and engaged in Waffen-SS veteran organizations after the war.
18:10 Steiner ist greeted at the airport by SS-Gruppenführer und Generalleutnant der Waffen-SS Matthias Kleinheisterkamp, commander of 6.SS-Gebirgs-Division"Nord", which was fighting in northern Finnland. From 1937 to 1940, he commanded 3rd Bn of SS-Infanterie-Regiment (mot) "Deutschland", while Steiner was his regimental commander. So they knew each other well. He died on May 2nd 1945 (either KIA or by suicide, there are different versions) as SS-Obergruppenführer and commander of XI.SS-Panzerkorps during the murderous breakout-fighting from the pocket of Halbe, south of Berlin.
18:26 The announcer of the Wochenschau explains that the Bn was going on a home leave. In reality, the Finnish authorities had asked to return the soldiers to Finnland for future service in the Finnish forces.
18:20 The Finnish Volunteer Battalion of the Waffen SS was formed in May 1941 out of Finnish volunteers. Initially 116 Finns volunteered, this number eventually rose to 1,100 by the end of 1941. It was attached to the Waffen-SS Division Wiking and fought in Ukraine and Southern Russia. By the end of May 1943, it was dissolved, and the volunteers were called back, because they were needed by the Finnish Army to hold the front against the Soviets.
18:38 Lauri Malmberg (1888-1948) was a Finnish General who served as the Commander of the Finnish Civil Guards, a Finnish paramilitary volunteer organization.
19:06 This gun is a 17cm Kanone 18, a heavy artillery gun used by the Wehrmacht. 338 pieces were made between 1941 and 1945.
19:49 Interestingly, the rifle with the scope on the left here is a Soviet Mosin-Nagant rifle.
20:01 This gun is a 8,8cm Flak 36 AA/AT-gun. Like seen here, it was sometimes used as an artillery gun, when regular artillery was not available.
20:21 This is a 5cm PaK 38 AT-gun. Designed from 1937 to 1939 as a successor to the 3,7cm PaK 36, 9,568 pieces were built between 1939 and 1944. Despite the gun being somewhat outdated, especially in the latter phase of the war, due to a general lack of AT-guns it remained in service until the end.
20:40 This is a 2cm FlaK 38 light AA-gun.
22:47 These soldiers are wearing Waffen-SS camouflage jackets. At 22:48
you can the see the collar patch of a SS-Unterscharführer (NCO) on the
soldier to the right. There were at no time any Waffen-SS units at the
Kuban bridgehead. A typical example how the Wochenschau editors mixed
up their available footage if only it served the story they wanted to
convey.
23:41 The Edelweiß flower painted on the hull of this Ju
88 shows that it belonged to Kampf-Geschwader 51 (therefore also
nicknamed Edelweiß Geschwader), which fought in the central sector of
the Eastern front.
23:01 This is a 21cm Mörser 18, a heavy artillery piece of the Wehrmacht, developed in 1933. 738 pieces were built between 1939 and 1945.
23:26 This is a 10,5cm leFH 18, the standard German artillery piece of WWII. 11,848 built between 1935 and 1943, and a further 10,265 of the successor, the 10,5cm leFH 18/40.
23:56 These planes are Ju-88 ground attack planes.
Source :
https://archive.org/details/die-deutsche-wochenschau-berita-mingguan-jerman-no.-668-23-juni-1943-teks-indonesia
https://digitaler-lesesaal.bundesarchiv.de/en/video/5102/639693
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUSYnDwQLLE
