Die Deutsche Wochenschau (German Weekly News) Nr. 750 - 25 January 1945

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:

00:44 - War-disabled soldiers in winter sports, German Reich, 1945.
Scenes show the amputee German soldiers skiing in alpine conditions. Narrative emphasizes the strength of will and resilience despite injuries. This segment is classic propaganda: portraying physical loss as heroic renewal.

01:27 - Volkssturm mobilization and training, German Reich, 1945.
Scenes show the Volkssturm recruits during distribution of uniforms and weapons. Volkssturm soldiers are being instructed on the use of a Panzerschreck and Panzerfaust anti-tank weapons. Demonstrations include attacking tanks at close range.

02:37 - Naval warfare/explosive motorboats, Netherlands, 1945.
German naval special units prepare one-man explosive boats. Briefing with the operations commander. Crews speed toward a bridge and jump off moments before detonation. Showcase of ingenuity and sacrifice in unconventional warfare.

03:29 - Life in underground bunkers, German Reich, 1945.
Scenes show the civilian life inside underground air-raid bunkers. This segment shows the workings inside the underground bunker, including: kitchens and food distribution, administrative offices, printing presses, and barber shop. Workers exit a mine elevator while others stand ready to descend to start their shift.

05:30 - Western Front/Ardennes, 1945.
This segment intend to show that the German forces are holding or regaining ground against the Allies, while in reality by early 1945, German forces were actually retreating after the failure of the Ardennes Offensive. German soldiers are searching the village. British and French prisoners of war are interrogated by the German troops.

07:08 - The Vistula-Oder Offensive, German Reich/Poland, 1945.
The Vistula–Oder Offensive was a major World War II campaign launched by the Red Army in January 1945. It marked a decisive Soviet advance from the Vistula River in Poland to the Oder River in Germany, setting the stage for the Battle of Berlin and the war’s end in Europe. Soviet forces under Zhukov’s 1st Belorussian and Konev’s 1st Ukrainian Fronts launched massive assaults from the Magnuszew and Baranów bridgeheads. Rapid breakthroughs, supported by superior artillery and armour, led to the collapse of German defenses. The Vistula–Oder Offensive is often cited as one of the most rapid and decisive operations of World War II. Its success paved the way for the capture of Berlin and the subsequent defeat of Nazi Germany in May 1945.


Source :
https://archive.org/details/die-deutsche-wochenschau-berita-mingguan-jerman-no.-750-25-januari-1945-teks-indonesia
https://digitaler-lesesaal.bundesarchiv.de/en/video/5150/712747
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2T0NvWBRa7k

Die Deutsche Wochenschau (German Weekly News) Nr. 751 - 10 February 1945

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:

00:41 - Prisoners of war exchange program, German Reich, 1945.
Severely wounded soldiers are returning to Germany as part of the exchange program. A hospital train with wounded soldiers arrives at a snow-covered train station. Soldiers are receiving a packages from the German Red Cross. 

01:24 - Combat operations on the Western Front, Netherlands/France, 1945.
The Anglo-Americans are attempting to establish new starting position as a baseline for larger operations. German heavy artillery and mortars take the enemy positions under fire. The sky covered with the contrails of British bombers and German fighters above the operational area. A German tank fires on the village from the edge of the forest. Scenes show the Sherman tanks that met their end in a tank ditch. German MG-42 machine gun nest.

02:42 - German refugees escape westward, Eastern Front, German Reich, 1945. 
Thousands of German refugees are forced to abandon their homes and flee westward from the Soviet onslaught. Horse-drawn carts travel through a town. Treks of refugees and groups of Soviet prisoners are passing through East German cities. Volkssturm men build barricades. Women from the National Socialist People's Welfare (NSV) take care of the refugees. 

03:51 - Retreat on the Eastern Front, German Reich, 1945.
Close-combat anti-tank weapons are being distributed to the Volkssturm men at a freight yard. "Goliath" and artillery ammunition are being unloaded and further transported to the front line. Tanks (Panther), tank destroyers (Jagdpanzer 38(t) Hetzer) and supplies are rolling forward along the roads. Scene show the Silesian city of Kattowitz (Katowice.) Artillery pieces and tanks are positioned in the streets. "Nashorn" assault guns, AA-guns 8.8 cm Flak, and AT-guns 7.5 cm Pak 40 have been deployed in ambush positions and in factories. Panzerfausts are being distributed to alert units. 

05:57 - Battle of East Prussia, German Reich, 1945.
German batteries positioned on the field hammer into the Soviet mass assaults. German infantry begin the counterattack. German ground-attack aircraft (Ju-87G "Kanonenvogel") are providing sustained relief to the infantry by attacking Soviet supply lines.

06:31 - Logistics on the Eastern Front, 1945.
Air force transport units are being prepared for takeoff to supply battle groups from the air. Supply bombs are being loaded with Panzerfausts. Cargo gliders are used to transport larger loads. The transport aircraft are dropping the supply bombs.

07:27 - Courland Pocket, Soviet Union, 1945.
German Grenadiers in the forwardmost positions in the trenches. Soldiers collect money for the 'Winter Relief Fund.' A soldier in a trench clearing snow with a pickaxe. Signal Troops are searching for technical faults in the blizzard.

08:11 - Siege of Budapest, Hungary, December 29, 1944 - February 13, 1945.
Soviet and Romanian forces completely surrounded the city on December 26, 1944, trapping roughly 79,000 German and Hungarian defenders. The men and women are building barricades on the streets of Budapest. German and Hungarian anti-aircraft batteries engage Soviet tanks.

08:58 - Operation "Konrad" (I–III), Hungary, 1945.
Consisted of three distinct German-Hungarian armored offensives in January 1945 designed to relieve the surrounded Axis garrison in Budapest. Led primarily by the IV SS Panzer Corps, these operations achieved temporary, localized success but ultimately failed to break the Soviet siege due to fuel shortages, logistical issues, and fierce Soviet resistance. Southwest of Budapest, strong German armored units have broken through the area between Lake Balaton and Budapest in a determined advance, and reached the Danube. The city of Székesfehérvár after its recapture by German troops. A Soviet cavalry reconnaissance patrol came under German MG fire. A column of German armored personnel carriers and Panther tanks advance along a forest track, past burning vehicles.


Source :
https://archive.org/details/die-deutsche-wochenschau-berita-mingguan-jerman-no.-751-10-februari-1945-teks-indonesia
https://digitaler-lesesaal.bundesarchiv.de/en/video/5151/712746
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZi0ffOvXT8

Unpublished Interview from the Oder Front (1945)

After the Soviets broke through the German defenses on the Vistula in January 1945, the first Soviet troops reached the Oder river, the last natural line of defense before Berlin, in late January 1945. By February, the bulk of the Soviet troops have arrived there. They stopped there, and did not advance beyond the Oder (with the exception of a few bridgeheads), mainly to clear their flanks in Silesia, East Prussia and Pommerania. 

The Germans had basically no units in that area, and for the next two months, almost all new and repaired weapons, including tanks and planes, were sent to the Oder front, and new units were hastily sent there.
But the Wehrmacht was just too bled out after years of fighting, and the Soviets managed to easily cross the Oder during their final offensive towards Berlin mid April 1945. 

In the months of February and March, German propaganda cameramen often visited the Oder to film footage for the German Newsweek.

The following video contains unpublished German propaganda footage from the frontlines near Frankfurt, including an interview with two soldiers in a trench, an interrogation of a defected Soviet soldier, and an interview with a battalion commander about defense preparations on the Oder. 

Source :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vo0nsrNSKgs

Die Deutsche Wochenschau (German Weekly News) Nr. 747 - 4 January 1945

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:

00:29 - The Hitler Youth celebrate the Winter Solstice, December 22nd, 1944. 
"HJ" members ski down a slope in a snowy mountain with torches. The Winter Solstice was a major propaganda tool for the Nazi regime, which co-opted the ancient Germanic festival (Yule or Julfest) to replace Christian traditions and indoctrinate the youth with Nazi ideology.

01:08 - Gebirgsjäger (Mountain Troops) during skiing, German Reich, 1945.
Mountain Troops ascend to the majestic heights in glistening snow and radiant sunshine. Gebirgsjäger skiing down into the valley.

01:57 - Fighting on the Southeastern Front, Hungary, 1945.
The first recipient of the Golden Oak Leaves with Swords and Diamonds to the Knight's Cross, Colonel Hans Ulrich Rudel in the combat mission against Soviet tanks. Scenes show the Stuka dive bombers in attack against advancing Soviet tanks with their Bordkanone 3,7 (BK 3,7) anti-tank cannons. Heavy fighting in Hungary between the Danube and Lake Balaton. German and Hungarian units are putting up a heroic resistance against the Soviet divisions, which repeatedly attack after heavy artillery fire. Scenes show burning Soviet T-34/85 tanks.

03:20 - Operation "Wacht am Rhein"/Ardennes Offensive, December 16th, 1944.
Beginning of the German counteroffensive on the Western Front in Ardennes. A strong German forces launched an unexpected attack from the Siegfried Line in the early morning hours of December 16th. Scene show the launching of the V-1 rockets and the barrage from the Nebelwerfer rocket launchers. German soldiers in trenches wait for the signal to attack. Allied prisoners are led away behind the German lines. German assault guns (Stug III) in advance. Assault guns and tanks had penetrated the enemy-occupied villages in a powerful advance. German columns marching along all roads, paths, and streets leading west. Paratroopers have advanced towards a village occupied by Americans and are taking house by house in close quarters combat with the support of tanks. Scenes show the Grenadiers and paratroopers in street fighting. Captured Americans emerge from a house with their hands raised. A field telephone in a captured vehicle is examined by German soldiers. SS Colonel-General Sepp Dietrich during the advance among his men. Fallen US soldiers, destroyed Sherman tanks and other military equipment. German assault guns, Panther tanks and mororized troops entering a village and are greeted by the residents. Field Marshal Walter Model during a troop inspection. Tiger II tanks drive through a taken village.

Source :
https://archive.org/details/die-deutsche-wochenschau-no.-747-1080
https://digitaler-lesesaal.bundesarchiv.de/en/video/5147/711196
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0488dUeZfs

German Prisoners of War in Berlin (May 1945)

The Second World War ended in May 1945, but the last and fiercest battles in Berlin took place at the beginning of the month. The Red Army surrounded the city, and on May 2, the Berlin garrison surrendered. On May 8, the unconditional surrender of the Wehrmacht came into effect.

Millions of German soldiers were taken prisoner of war after the surrender. Many fell into the hands of the Soviet Union, the USA, Great Britain, and France. While the Western Allies ran comparatively humane camps, many prisoners in Soviet camps suffered from hunger, disease, and forced labor. It was not until the mid-1950s that, according to estimates, the last German prisoners of war returned from the Soviet Union.


Source :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ujva_DGdxdw

Die Deutsche Wochenschau (German Weekly News) Nr. 753 - 5 March 1945

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:

00:00 - Intro

00:22 - 80th birthday of Swedish explorer Sven Hedin, Stockholm, Sweden, 1945.
A great friend of the German people the Swedish explorer Sven Hedin, turned 80 years old. The German ambassador in Stockholm extend the congratulations of the German nation on behalf of the Führer and Reich Foreign Minister von Ribbentrop.

00:52 - "The German Newsreel" visits wounded Colonel Hans Ulrich Rudel in an air force hospital, German Reich, 1945.
"The German newsreel" reporter visits fighter pilot Colonel Hans Ulrich Rudel in a Luftwaffe hospital. A newsreel reporter conducts an interview with a wounded fighter pilot.

02:37 - German U-Boot with a snorkel/Naval war, 1945.
With the help of the snorkel, German submarine torpedoes have devastatingly hit over half a million tons of enemy supply ships in the last three months. Scenes show a view of a distant convoy from the periscope perspective. 

03:44 - Fighting on the Western Front, German Reich, 1945.
Report about fighting on the Western Front against a new major offensive conducted by the British, Canadians and Americans. German reserves are being thrown into battle on armored vehicles to seal off any possible breakthrough point. Scenes show the German positions on the Röhr River, which are at the center of the fighting. Mortars and gun emplacements have been set up behind the rubble of the houses. German intervention reserves are launching a counterattack at Jülich.

05:32 - German troops encircled in Budapest break through to the German lines, Eastern Front, 1945.
A first photographs of the Budapest warriors who fought their way through to the German lines in the west of the city. The exhausted soldiers are greeted by their comrades. Wounded soldiers are taken to the aid station. 

06:25 - In the Silesian battle zone, Eastern Front, German Reich, 1945.
Grenadiers equipped with a Panzerfausts are marching past the sign: "To Ratibor 6 km." The commander of the fortress of Breslau Karl Hanke with an anti-aircraft combat unit of the Reich Labor Service (RAD). In these towns recaptured by German troops every house bears the mark of the cruelties of the Soviet bands of soldiers. Scenes show the stolen clothing of German residents on Soviet vehicles. Corpses of killed civilians are covered with sheets. The destroyed bridge at Fürstenberg, which the pioneer Justus Jürgensen destroyed at the risk of his life. Scenes show the signal-communication woman auxiliary Erna Hirsekorn who receives the Iron Cross for saving an already abandoned German town.

08:45 - Frankfurt Battle Area/Oder Front, Eastern Front, German Reich, 1945.
Scene show the German positions on the Oder River. The Gauleiter of Berlin, Reich Minister Dr. Goebbels, gains a personal impression of the preparations for the defensive struggle.Goebbels in a conversation with a Knight's Cross recipient, General of the Infantry Busse. German soldiers firing from a machine gun emplacement. Trains carrying supplies, weapons, and men are rolling along the railway lines and roads leading to the front, day and night. German tanks and infantry units are deployed to counter a localized Soviet incursion which was carried out with strong tank support. Tanks and grenadiers advancing into battle. Heavy house-to-house and street fighting are raging around the towns in this area. Scenes show destroyed Soviet T-34 tanks. Waffen-SS soldiers smoking cigarettes after the battle.

11:20 - Outro


Source :
https://archive.org/details/die-deutsche-wochenschau-berita-mingguan-jerman-no.-753-5-maret-1945-teks-indonesia
https://digitaler-lesesaal.bundesarchiv.de/en/video/5153
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GioJGXWpMs

Panzerfaust Training (1945)

In Die Deutsche Wochenschau No. 755, one of the striking segments depicted the urgent training of Volkssturm and Hitlerjugend units in the use of the Panzerfaust, Germany’s last-ditch anti-tank weapon. Filmed amid the ruins of German cities in early 1945, the footage showed young boys and aging men receiving rapid instruction from Wehrmacht veterans on how to aim and fire the single-shot launcher against approaching Soviet and Allied armor. The commentary described these “defenders of the homeland” as embodying unbreakable resolve, even as the war neared its catastrophic end. Demonstrations of Panzerfaust firing drills—complete with explosions against mock tank targets—were used to project an image of confidence and resistance. Yet behind the propagandistic tone lay a grim reality: the Reich was training children and civilians for street combat in a hopeless defense. This Wochenschau episode thus captured both the desperation and the propaganda theater of Nazi Germany’s final months, where heroism was manufactured amid inevitable defeat.

Source :
Die Deutsche Wochenschau Nr. 755 - 22 March 1945

Evacuation of German Civilian from East Prussia (1945)

In Die Deutsche Wochenschau No. 755, released in the final weeks of the war in early 1945, German audiences witnessed harrowing scenes of the evacuation of civilians from East Prussia as the Red Army advanced westward. The newsreel showed endless columns of refugees—women, children, and the elderly—struggling through snow-covered roads with carts, sleds, and the few possessions they could carry, while smoke from burning villages rose behind them. The voice-over sought to portray the exodus as an orderly and heroic “Volkswanderung,” emphasizing the endurance of the German people under Soviet assault, yet the images betrayed desperation and chaos. German troops were shown assisting the refugees, forming protective convoys, and loading civilians onto ships bound for the Reich’s western territories, including the ill-fated evacuation across the Baltic. Wochenschau No. 755 thus stands as both propaganda and tragic documentation—a final attempt by the Nazi regime to glorify suffering as sacrifice while the East Prussian homeland was consumed by war’s end.

Source :
Die Deutsche Wochenschau Nr. 755 - 22 March 1945

Hitler's Last Award Ceremony

On 20 March 1945, as the Third Reich teetered on the brink of collapse, Adolf Hitler held his final award ceremony in the garden of the Reich Chancellery in Berlin. It was a grim and surreal spectacle, filmed by the Propaganda Ministry to project an illusion of steadfastness amid ruin. Before the Führer stood rows of young boys from the Hitlerjugend, many barely in their teens, decorated with the Iron Cross for their supposed bravery in the defense of the Reich. Their faces reflected exhaustion, fear, and misplaced pride as Hitler, gaunt and trembling from illness, moved slowly down the line to shake their hands. This brief ceremony—recorded in black-and-white and later colorized—became one of the most haunting images of Nazi Germany’s final days: the dying leader of a doomed empire entrusting its fate to children. It was not a celebration of victory, but a somber symbol of desperation and the human cost of fanatical devotion.

Source :
Die Deutsche Wochenschau Nr. 755 - 22 March 1945

Die Deutsche Wochenschau (German Weekly News) Nr. 752 - 24 February 1945

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:
00:00 - Intro
00:39 - Weaving mill production, German Reich, 1945.
Donations from all sections of the population were processed for armaments in hundreds of German spinning mills. The weaving mill produces wool blankets and uniform fabrics for the Wehrmacht and Volkssturm.
01:33 - Fighting on the Western Front, German Reich/Netherlands, 1945.
The British and Canadians have launched a new offensive between the Lower Rhine and the Meuse. German soldiers in winter camuflage, and equipped with a Panzerfausts, on a briefing before combat mission. German paratroopers are crossing the Lower Rhine and are taking up new positions. German infantry units in a frontal section of the Eifel area. On a field destroyed English and American "Sherman" tanks. German troops on defensive positions in damaged buildings of a village. Scenes show damaged houses occupied by civilians in town Hatten in the Haguenau Forest area.
03:10 - The winter battle on the Eastern Front, German Reich/Poland, 1945.
Scenes show German soldiers in trenches during heavy icy snowstorms. A motorcycle messenger fights his way through the blizzard.
03:46 - Logistics/Naval war, East Prussia/Baltic Sea, 1945.
German troops and war material are loaded onto transport ship in the East Prussian port. A German convoy on the move through Baltic Sea. Navy combat units open fire on Soviet troop deployments and assembly routes on the Vistula Lagoon.
04:38 - Fortress of Breslau, German Reich/Poland, 1945.
The capital of the Silesian region forms one of the cornerstones against the Bolshevik onslaught. Propaganda posters are hung with a call to help with the defence preparations in the city, and propaganda postar about Panzerfaust strenght. Volksturm units erecting barricades on the outskirts of the city. Gauleiter and Reich Defense Commissioner Hanke during an inspection of the defenses. Commander-in-Chief of an Army Group, General Colonel Schörner in conversation with Gauleiter Hanke. Engineer units prepare the Oder crossings, houses and sections of streets for demolition.
06:08 - Frankfurt-Küstrin combat area, German Reich, 1945.
The Oder city of Frankfurt also forms an important cornerstone in the central Oder region. The refugees are marching past the reserves of Volksgrenadier divisions, towards west, through the Oder Bridge. Volkssturm soldiers are being equipped with weapons ("Goliath", StG 44 assault rifles)  at a loading station. Volkssturm soldiers equipped with "Volkssturmgewehr" and Panzerfausts advance towards battle zone. German reserves arrive at the railway station. Unloading of heavy tanks (Panther) and tank destroyers (Jagdpanzer IV/70 (V)). Attack aircraft and fighters (Bf-109) take off against the enemy in difficult weather conditions. 
08:24 - Battle on the Eastern Front, German Reich, 1945.
New tank units, assault guns and infantry divisions were constantly being deployed to stop Soviet advance. SS paratroopers in defensive positions in an Oder bridgehead. RAD" anti-aircraft guns in combat against an enemy tank spearhead. Rocket launchers (30 cm Nebelwerfer 42) located in a village take Soviet deployment under fire. Jagdpanzer 38(t) tank destroyers advance through the village. Tank destroyers, tanks, armoured vehicles (Sd.Kfz. 251/21 Ausf. D 1,5cm "drilling") and infantry move forward. Panther tanks firing at Soviet positions.
10:25 - Outro

Source :
https://archive.org/details/die-deutsche-wochenschau-berita-mingguan-jerman-no.-752-24-februari-1945
https://digitaler-lesesaal.bundesarchiv.de/en/video/5152/702245
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12y-7XXPBSE

Die Deutsche Wochenschau (German Weekly News) Nr. 755 - 22 March 1945

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:
00:57 Egon Agtha (1918-1945) was a German bomb disposal specialist in Berlin during WWII. Initially an artillery soldier, he was trained as a bomb disposal specialist from 1939-1941. He was severely wounded by the explosion of a British unexploded ordinance in 1942. He returned to active duty two years later and was made the leader of the 1st Bomb Disposal Unit of the Air Force in Berlin sometimes in 1944. He was awarded the Knights Cross of the Iron Cross on February 3rd, 1945, and promoted to Oberleutnant (First Lieutenant) by Hitler personally on the same day. He was further awarded the Oak Leaves to the Knights Cross on March 12th, 1945, and was again promoted by Hitler personally on the same day, this time to Hauptmann (Captain). He died during fighting with Soviet troops in Berlin on May 2nd, 1945. 

01:07 The sign on the wall reads “Bomb Disposal Unit of the Air Force Berlin”

01:40 This soldier is not Agtha, he is an Unteroffizier (Sergeant), the lowest NCO rank.

02:05 The Panzerfaust was a cheap, single use man-portable AT-Gun, which used a high explosive anti-tank warhead. Over 8 million were produced. Especially late in the war, it was often the only weapon available and was widely distributed to Volkssturm militia. 

02:11 This sign reads: “Now its getting serious- to the live shooting range”

02:38 Arthur Axmann (1913-1996) was a German politician and leader of the Hitler Youth from 1940 to 1945. He joined the NSDAP in 1931 and was made Chief of the Social Office of the Reich Youth Leadership in 1933. He was then promoted to Hitler Youth chief in Berlin in 1934. He was made deputy Hitler Youth leader on May 1st, 1940, and leader on 8th August 1940. He fought in WWII and lost his arm during fighting on the Eastern Front in 1941. In 1943, Axmann proposed the idea of a Hitler Youth division, which resulted in the 12th SS Panzer Division “Hitler Youth”. During the Battle of Berlin, Axmann was present in the Führerbunker and was part of the group that left the Bunker on May 1st. He managed to avoid capture and lived under a fake name for a few years. He was arrested in December 1945 in Lübeck by the Americans when he tried to organize a Nazi underground movement. He was sentenced to 3 years and 3 months in Prison. After that, he worked as a businessman and died in October 1996 in Berlin. 

02:41 This is the last known video footage of Hitler. It was initially believed that it was taken on the 20th of April, Hitlers Birthday, and many reputable sources reported that, however, this Newsweek issue confirms that it was indeed taken before March 22nd, 1945. 

03:02 This boy holds the rank of Oberscharführer, a rank of the Hitler Youth comparable to Oberfeldwebel (Sergeant Major). 

03:06 The Bannführer is a rank in the Hitler Youth, comparable to a Colonel. 

03:14 Hindenburg and Gleiwitz were German cities in Upper Silesia. 

03:41 This boy also holds the rank of Oberscharführer. 

03:48 Hitler Youth boys were often used as couriers to transport messages, as many German officers were reluctant to use them in combat roles.

03:57 This is Wilhelm “Willi” Hübner (1928-2010), a Hitler Youth boy who was one of the youngest Iron Cross recipients, which he received for his participation in the Battle of Lauban. He was awarded the Iron Cross originally by Goebbels in Lauban, and there is a famous photo of Goebbels shaking his hand, and later was also present in the reception at the Reich Chancellery in Berlin, shown here. Because of his small size and very young appearance, he is often shown as alleged “child soldier”, despite him being already 16 years old.

03:59 Lauban was a German city in Upper Lusatia. 

04:28 Ernst Tiburzy (1911-2004) was a battalion leader of the Volkssturm and the first Volkssturm soldier to be awarded with the Knights Cross. He destroyed 5 or 9 Soviet tanks (sources vary) during the Battle of Königsberg on February 10th, 1945, preventing a breakthrough into the city and was awarded for that. He was one of only four or five Volkssturm soldiers who received the Knights Cross.

04:45 Breslau, the capital city of Silesia, was surrounded by the Red Army on February 13th, 1945, but strong German resistance prevented a quick capture of the city, and instead long and fierce street fighting ensued, the Red Army bombed the city to ruins. Breslau only capitulated on May 6th, 1945, after almost three months of fighting, one of the longest battle in the last phase of the war. 
04:51 Karl Hanke (1903-1045) was a German politician of the NSDAP and Gauleiter (governor) of Lower Silesia from 1941 to 1945. He joined the NSDAP in November 1928 and was active in Berlin under Goebbels during the early 1930s. Hitler liked him, which helped him advance his career quickly, he became Goebbels private secretary in 1933 and state secretary in 1938. However, his affair with Goebbels wife Magda led to an abrupt halt of his political career in July 1939. Hanke then fought during WWII on the western front with the 7th Panzer Division, where he became aquinted with Erwin Rommel. He was made Gauleiter of Lower Silesia in January 1941. During the last months of WWII, he led German troops during the Siege of Breslau and managed to hold the city for 82 days. He was known for his fanatism, which impressed Hitler, who made him leader of the SS in his testament. Hanke fled Breslau on May 5th, flying to Prague, where he got captured by Czech partisans on May 6th and was killed during an escape attempt on June 8th, 1945.

05:13 This wreck is a Soviet heavy assault gun, either an SU-152 or an SU-122. 

05:22 Königsberg, the capital city of East Prussia, was surrounded by the Soviets in late January 1945 and besieged, although the seaside was still open and usable by the Germans. Since the frontline quickly moved further west in February , the capture of the city was of low priority  to the Soviets, and so the Soviet attack on the city only started on April 6th, and on April 9th, with the Soviets already in the city, the German defenders capitulated. 

05:24 Otto Lasch (1893-1971) was a German General dring WWII, leading German troops to the capture of Riga in June 1941, and commander of the 217. Infantry Division in 1942/43. He led German troops in Alsace from August to November 1944, and was then made commander of Königsberg. After the Soviets encircled the city in late January 1945, he was made city commander. He tried to persuade Gauleiter Koch to surrender several times, which he always rejected. After the Soviets attacked the city on April 6th, Lasch surrender the city on April 9th and was sentenced to death in absentia by Hitler for this. He was a POW until 1955, when he returned to Germany. 

05:27 Erich Koch (1896-1986) was a German Nazi Party official. He fought in WWI from 1915 to 1918, and later as a Freikorps member in Upper Silesia. He joined the German Railway, but was fired for anti-republic activities in 1926. He joined the Nazi party in 1922, where he worked in various positions, and became deputy Gauleiter in the Ruhr Gau in 1927, before becoming Gauleiter in East Prussia in October 1928, a position he would hold until April 1945. During WWII, he was best known for being Reich Commissioner for Ukraine, controlling the Police and Gestapo in Ukraine. He was known for being brutal and considering Ukrainians and other Slavic people as being inferior to Germans. He caused famines by excessively seizing food for the Wehrmacht, was responsible for the Holocaust in Ukraine, and for massive use of Ukrainians for forced labor. At the end of the war, he went into hiding, but was arrested in May 1949, and extradited to Poland. He was sentenced to death for war crimes in March 1959, but the sentence was not carried out and changed to life imprisonment. He died in Polish prison in November 1986. 

06:23 Several hundred thousand people were evacuated by German Navy transports from East and West Prussia in 1945.

06:59 These guns are 15cm sFH 18, the standard heavy artillery gun used by the Wehrmacht.

07:03 This is an Sd. Kfz. 7, a half-tracked tractor used by the Germans during WWII. 12,187 were built between 1938 and 1944, and used mostly to tow 8,8cm FlaK 36 or 15cm sFH 18 heavy artillery.

07:05 This gun is a10.5 cm leFH 18, the standard German light field gun of WWII. 11,848 produced between 1935 and 1943, with a further 10,265 produced of its successor, the 10.5cm leFH 18/40, 
from 1943-1945.

07:35 Since the Soviets had almost no naval units in the Baltic Sea, apart from a few U-Boats, German destroyers and cruisers were able to give effective support fire to German troops fighting near the coastline in the Baltics and in East and West Prussia until the end of the war.

08:06 The tanks on the train here are Panzer IV/70 (A), which were tank destroyers on Panzer IV chassis. They were built as interim solution to fit the longer 7,5cm L/70 gun on a Panzer IV chassis, before this could be done on the standard Jagdpanzer IV. As you can see in this footage, these tanks have a quite high silhouette, which was a disadvantage compared to the flat, small Jagdpanzer IV. 277 were built between August 1944 and March 1945. 

08:08 The gun in the foreground is a Vierlingsflak 38, a quadruple 20mm AA-gun.

08:11 These tanks are Panther medium tanks. Armed with a 7,5cm KwK 42/L70 and armored with up to 80mm front armor, angled at 55 degrees, and up to 100mm turret armor, it was a very good medium tank, considered by many to be one of, or even the best, medium tank of WWII. Around 6,000 were built from January 1943 to April 1945.

Source :
https://archive.org/details/last-german-newsweek-no.-755-22-march-1945-2
https://digitaler-lesesaal.bundesarchiv.de/en/video/5155/702246
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWxWY4rFhTg

Festung Breslau (1945)

Breslau, the capital city of Silesia, was surrounded by the Red Army on February 13th, 1945, but strong German resistance prevented a quick capture of the city, and instead long and fierce street fighting ensued, the Red Army bombed the city to ruins. Breslau only capitulated on May 6th, 1945, after almost three months of fighting, one of the longest battle in the last phase of the war.


Source :
Die Deutsche Wochenschau (German Weekly News) Nr. 755 - 22 March 1945
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWxWY4rFhTg

Panzerjäger Leutnant Arrested by the Canadians

 

A well decorated German Leutnant, member of Panzerjäger (Tank Hunter) unit, arrested by the Canadian army on 13 April 1945 in Netherlands. He have the Eisernes Kreuz II.Klasse ribbon in his lapel, while in his uniform is pinned Eisernes Kreuz I.Klasse, Allgemeines-Sturmabzeichen and Verwundetenabzeichen in Silber. He is also wearing the Kuban Shield in his sleeve.

Source :
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2360048380929060/permalink/2843401592593734/?__cft__[0]=AZWXltG3n_SAUTokfsQdzK3m4Rguy1-It5ZINwK1Z_-DMQ7SIEeEzzwK-QVqV6ZCAMIVRR77XjZPjzasRmqNNYtWxtOgOOmymr2cWuXbdsZrZUvu4NWm-2mR1rTr32zbRth8kBRfSBVJBJNZ7DOM512o_MCwmESvs1WvGTJV1EvzXeAxdFbshNUyvvF-RAGS7ac&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R

Gruppenkommandeur Willy Sölter in the Castle Engelsholm

 

Luftwaffe flying crew stationed at FlH Vejle, Denmark, lived in the nearby castle Engelsholm. In the doorway is Major Willi Sölter (Gruppenkommandeur I.Gruppe / Kampfgeschwader 26), in the spring 1945. During World War II, he flew a total of 257 sorties, during which he was shot down 5 times. He received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 9 August 1944 as Hauptmann and Kommandeur I.Gruppe / Kampfgeschwader 77. The medal was awarded for his record of successful missions on all fronts since the start of the war, which included his personally sinking a destroyer in the Mediterranean theatre.

Source :
Jørn Junker photo collection
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2236790469673066/permalink/4137385049613589/?__cft__[0]=AZUQVq7jvAIk3XTwjy_zWzqBE2ZbIXIQ7Uu0ASITQCWhwB5Ua9YlqRTd9RtPWotMAu4RdO0ri0ZWrOZrh-27n2W6c0impE2QN4LjrtxNOrnnd72pL2vLC-TY-YdqFCMeK00oVC3_9L7DabD7MMPnBvq2&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R

Surrender of Generalleutnant (Luftwaffe) Karl Veith

Meeting on Wedtlenstedter Schleuse (Fuse Canal lock house), 10 April 1945. Leutnant Schmidt (interpreter) carrying a white flag, while General Hobbs and General Harrison backs to the camera.

Generalleutnant Karl Veith and Major-General Hobbs after Veith's capture east of Braunschweig, 12 April 1945.

Account of surrender negotiations between Major General Leland S. Hobbs, Commanding General, 30th Infantry Division and Generallcutnant Karl Vcith, Commander of the Braunschweig Defenses, 10 April 1945, as observed by 1st Lt. John Henderson, 4th Information and Historical Service, 9th U.S. Army:

The advance to the east were practically unopposed to Vechelede. The 126th Cavalry captured the town before canal containing a military hospital. A Gorman medical officer knew the German General was anxious to talk terms of surrender. Our line stopped advance while a Private Solomon of l35th Cavalry conferred with German officials. A conference was arranged for 1900B at 820114, between General Hobbs and General Veith. I was present at the conference having followed the party through no man's land. As our party approached the canal the German general's car was seen coming in from the east. All personnel were unarmed and under cover of a white fiag. Arms and sidearms had been placed in my vehicle.

The meeting took place at a lock on the canal in the portion of the lock house on the east side of the canal. I do not know the composition of the German party other than it consisted of 6 men, the General, a couple of aides, an interpreter, and one other person whom I take to be the political leader of the area. All were in dress unifoms. General Hobbs' party in the conference room consisted of the General, General Harrison, Lt. Col. Hall, Lt. Schmidt (Interpreter), Lt. Henderson (9th Army Historian), Lt Kerrigan (30th Division PRO) and numerous cameramen.

General Veith was a little, undignified man with rather a hesitant halting voice. His words were certainly at the insistance of the tall scar faced officer (Gestapo?) beside him. General Hobbs' voice filled the small second story room as he said, "I am not here to bicker." During the five minute con-sultation between General Veith and staff, General Hobbs and General Harrison discussed methods of taking the place if the deal did not work. As we approached the canal wo could see puffs of smoke and hear deep rumbling explosions. These were bridges along the canal being blown. The original plan had been to move rapidly to the outskirts of town, 'then demand surrender. In light of events which followed I believe that would have been the sounder plan. I think our people could have rushed the bridges rather than permitting the enemy to blow bridges while we negotiated. The return trip was without incident, though roads were clogged with armor and infantry waiting to plunge in if the "plan" didn't work. Also, German planes in the vicinity made things uncomfortable, but our column was not strafed.

Conversation between Major General Leland S. Hobbs, Commanding General, 30th Infantry Division and Generalleutnant Karl Veith at 820114, Germany, 1900B, 10 April 1945:

General Hobbs: I am here to receive the surrender of your general and his troops.

General Veith: We wish the towns to be open and undefended in order to avert war among the civil population. Therefore I offer them as open towns. We wish until 1900B tomorrow to withdraw our troops.

General Hobbs: The terms of the Allies are always unconditional.

General Veith: Yes we know that, but your parliamentarian stated that such could be done in accordance with the Geneva Convention.

General Hobbs: He was making the best statement he could, but it was not based on the facts. He had no authority to say that we would accept anything other than unconditional surrender.

General Veith: Though it is our desire to fight soldier to soldier, we would like to withdraw our soldiers in order to save the civilian population.

General Hobbs: I repeat my terms are unconditional as they have been submitted. The General knows that if he surrenders as a man no harm will be done the city.

General Veith: I fight soldier against soldier and if the civilian population suffers, it is your will.

(The German General asked for five minutes to confer with his staff).

During the intermission General Hobbs requested that his interpreter be prepared to ask the German commander how many troops he had in his command. This the interpreter did during the conference. To this the German General answered, "I would no more tell you than you would tell me how many troops in your command." General Hobbs explained to the interpreter that this question was only to be asked after the surrender had been tendered.

(The negotiations continued at 1916B).

Interpreter: The German General would like to have your name, sir. He has already given you his.

General Hobbs: General Hobbs. H-O-B-B-S.

General Veith: What are the conditions of your offer? (Here the German interpreter interceded). He means what area and what troops do you ask to surrender?

General Hobbs: I ask the surrender of the area and the troops that he (the General) commands.

General Veith: Braunschweig and vicinity will surrender unconditionally at 1200 tomorrow. I will with-draw my troops before the town and those that are in the town.

General Hobbs: No.

General Harrison: (30th's Assistant Division Commander): We don't care about the town. We want your troops.

General Hobbs: I am not here to bicker. I want unconditional surrender or we will continue the cam-paign.

General Veith shrugged his shoulders to indicate non-acceptance.

The American party began to leave. The German interpreter shouted to the American interpreter, "How long will the truce continue?" After conferring with General Hobbs and Lt. Col. Stewart L. Hall, G-2, 30th Infantry Division, who directed the arrangements for the conference, the interpreter replied, "One half hour. It is now 1920B."

Generalleutnant Karl veith (left, Kommandeur Flak-Schul-Division Braunschweig) being presented the unconditional surrender terms by the Americans at Braunschweig, Germany, 10 April 1945. Second from right is Leutnant Schmidt, the interpreter for Veith and Major-General Leland S. Hobbs (Commander U.S. 30th Infantry Division). A description of the negotiations (including the original US protocol) can be found HERE. The guy with the Volkssturm Armbinde (whom Lieutenant Henderson considered to be the real leader of the delegation, somewhat naively assuming he was a "Gestapo officer" or "the political leader of the area"!) was actually the local Volkssturm commander Major d.R. Ernst Webendoerfer, managing director of the Vieweg-Verlag, who had lost a leg in World War I.

 

Generalleutnant Karl veith (left), in command of the German forces in Braunschweig, Germany, shakes hands with Major-General Leland S. Hobbs, commanding general of 30th Infantry Division, U.S. Ninth Army. On 10 April 1945 Surrender terms were discussed, but no agreement reached. Each officers return to their camp and the fighting continued. According to this brochure quoting local military historian Karl-Heinz Heineke, Veith was captured only 24 hours later (at 23.42 hours on 11 April) when his convoy leaving Braunschweig ran into an American roadblock near Schöppenstedt.

Source :
Picture courtesy of Graveland
https://www.britishpathe.com/video/men-out-of-cages
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%9Cbergabe_der_Stadt_Braunschweig
https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=211991
https://www.oldhickory30th.com/BraunschweigFall.htm
http://www.oldhickory30th.com/22_photo_page.htm

SS Soldiers with StG 44 Assault Rifle

One of the most well-known photos with Sturmgewehr G44 (in fact it's an MP43/1) of SS-Panzergrenadiers from IV. SS-Panzerkorps engage in conversation during a break in Hungary, 1945.

 

 

Source :
https://equipment.fandom.com/wiki/M44_Erbsenmuster
https://twitter.com/StG44Geek/status/1221936827659116547
https://www.ww2-weapons.com/mp44-stug44-mp43/

SS-Feldlazarett 504 Photo Album

One of the more remarkable discoveries during the last decade was the photo album of "Nurse Ida," a Norwegian nurse who served as a Red Cross volunteer in SS Field Hospital (Feldlazarett) 104/504. Her photo album, portions of which are reproduced here courtesy of the Kriegsbilder.net archive, are amazing, showing Ida and her fellow nurses at work and at leisure while serving with the corps' field hospital in Belarus, Poland and Hungary, where Gille's corps arrived at the end of December 1944. She began her service as a voluntary Red Cross Nurse on 5 August 1943 with the SS Hospital in Minsk until 28 June 1944 before being transferred to the IV SS Panzer Corps' field hospital on 8 November 1944. Shown in this selection (there are many more on the website), are some of the Waffen-SS medical personnel with whom she worked alongside. Usually, up to a dozen civilian Red Cross nurses were attached to each field hospital, with the number varying from unit to unit.  An amazing find that illustrates that there were women who also served in Gille's corps during the war.

 

The official Photo of Nurse Ida in her German Red Cross "Verwendungs" identity book.

A photo of two of her fellow nurses and two patients in the SS field hospital 504 west of Modlin, Poland.

During the rail journey from Modlin to Komorn (Komarno) in Hungary, the Red Cross nurses had to ride in unheated rail cars like most everyoneelse.

This depicts the loading of SS Feldlaz. 504, most likely carried out in Modlin during the last week of December 1944.

Another photo of SS medical personnel from SS-FeldLaz. 504.

In this photo, taken either in Modlin in December 1944 or in Hungary between January and March 1945, show a staff car of SS-Lazarett 504,, stenciled in black letters on the left front fender.

One of the hospital's medical officers eating a meal in the cab of a staff car, most likely photographed by Nurse Ida in late December 1944 in Hungary when the IV SS Panzer Corps was moved from Poland to Hungary for the relief of Budapest.



One of the SS hospital's medical personnel. The leather strap slung over his shoulder is not for a submachine gun, but for Sister Ida's camera! This was most likely taken in eastern Austria in the spring of 1945, shortly before the war's end.



The same officer, but in this photo the tactical symbol of SS-Feldlaz. 504 can be seen on the left rear passenger door.



An alpine view. This was most like taken between the end of March/April 1945 when the IV SS Pz.Korps was withdrawing into the Styrian Alps east of Graz, Austria.



Portions of the staff, including doctros, of SS-Feldlaz. 504



Sister Ida with one of her favorite doctors (unnamed) posing in the front door of their hospital somewhere in Poland or Hungary.



Additional photos of the Nurse corps of SS-Feldlaz. 504, apparently shortly after arriving in Hungary.



Some of the nurses posting with a few of their Waffen-SS patients, location unknown.



A photo of an unknown SS unit "moving up to the front" was taken near Minsk in late 1943/early 1944 before Nurse Ida was transferred to SS-Feldlaz. 504.



Another image of senior SS medical personnel loading their equipment on a train, most likely taken by Nurse Ida in the area west of Modlin where SS-Feldlaz. 504 was located.



Additional medical personnel shown here. Interestingly, the highly decorated soldier in the center, who bears no rank, wears the insignia on his right jacket collar of the infamous Dirlewanger Brigade. This photo was taken near Minsk, where Dirlewanger's unit was operating at the time, so he could be one of the unit's doctors, sharing the same medical facility as other SS units.

Source :
"From the Realm of the Dying Sun" by Douglas E. Nash., Sr.
https://www.facebook.com/Latewareasternfront/posts/121003643159742?__cft__[0]=AZULNSrDCB4QyaOtdNOprVf4eCIP_kwOqPhZlo2Efx5_RQhE_A8LBTxleKB7a3aCIobCkfDlTZdDGDaCuqsBG_QpQqB4N9x9SG1fdnhDlhB09n2KP0_qlMjI7NLtV8fd4cQjkC1zUmYOTusceK8KQfiv&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R

German POWs Watching US Vehicles in Autobahn

Germany, April 1945. Wehrmacht prisoners (officers and NCOs) seated on the long embankment of an "Autobahn", while watching a column of US vehicles pass by, advancing further to Germany.

Source :
https://www.flickr.com/photos/41818881@N06/

German POWs Reaction to Holocaust Film

The immediate reaction of German Prisoners of war upon being forced by the US Army to watch to the uncensored footage of the concentration camps shot by the US Signal Corps, 1945. After the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps, films of the atrocities of the Holocaust were shown to the prisoners, which engendered shock, anger, and disbelief; amazed and disbelieving prisoners nicknamed them knocken films (films of bones). After compulsory viewing of an atrocity film, 1,000 prisoners at Camp Butner dramatically burned their German uniforms while a few prisoners even volunteered to fight in the war against Japan (the idea however was dropped by the American military). This forced process itself was part of the Allied policy of postwar denazification, meant to purge Germany of the remnants of Nazi rule and rebuild its civil society, infrastructure, and economy.

Source :
https://www.checkhookboxing.com/index.php?threads/eerie-creepy-photos-updated-the-story-behind-the-japanese-samurai-sword-assassination-photo.40853/page-96
http://www.historyinorbit.com/rare-historic-photos-n/13

SS-Sturmbannführer Dr. Egon Skalka

SS-Sturmbannführer Dr. Egon Skalka, chief medical officer of the Hohenstaufen Division, photographed in early 1945. Skalka was instrumental in arranging the truce to evacuate wounded from the Oosterbeek pocket to hospitals in Arnhem in September 1944, which resulted in the lives of many wounded British paratroopers being saved.

Source :
http://5sswiking.tumblr.com/post/142916927032/ss-sturmbannf%C3%BChrer-dr-egon-skalka-chief-medical