Refugees and concentration camp victims return to Czechoslovakia after the World War II. Destroyed buildings and houses in a village in Czechoslovakia. Woman concentration camp victims, probably most of them Jewish Holocaust victims, leaning out of the windows of a bus after arrival in town. Close up of chalk written sign on bus reads, "Ravensbrück" to denote it as containing women from Ravensbrück concentration camp. Woman are greeted by their family members, who help them out of the bus. Several of those gathered are still wearing their striped concentration camp uniforms. A woman tearfully hugs a man. A steam locomotive with coal car reading, "U.S.A." moving slowly on train track. A Czechoslovakian soldier with rifle inspects tamper evident wire latch on train car. A man opens the door of a railroad train car, revealing bags of grain inside. Hand of inspector examining grain from shipment. Another railroad car door opened to reveal cotton or wool batting. Hand inspects wool or cotton fibers. Truck convoy through city streets. Man carrying crate marked "UNRRA" into building. Crate marked "Czechoslovakia" is placed on table. Hand shows small box of penicillin. Man walking with crutches enters building and is given warm coats. External view of "LAMPLOTA" building with "UNRRA" signs in windows, now set up as an UNRRA distribution center. A smiling Czechoslovakian girl hands a ration ticket to a woman behind the counter at an UNRRA distribution center. The woman cuts a part of the ration ticket off with scissors. Close up of UNRRA food supplies. View of a large wall of "UNRRA" crates.
Former President of Czechoslovakia Eduard Benes returns from Prague during Czech Army parade in Prague, Czechoslovakia. A crowd gathers around a jeep. A large crowd of Czech civilians. Buildings in the background. Views of Czech civilians, soldiers, officers and police. Former President of Czechoslovakia Eduard Benes gets into a car to return from Prague. A sign on a building reads 'Ambassador'. Civilians watch parade from windows of the building. Crowds cheer the former President Benes as he rides along the streets. Civilians stand on either side of the road and wave. (World War II period).
Opening scene shows British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, at the airport, having just returned from the Munich conference where Britain and France acquiesed to Nazi Germany's annexation of the Sudetenlands and part of Czechoslovakia. He holds up copy of the agreement signed by Chancellor Adolf Hitler as symbolic of British and German determination never to wage war against each other again. Crowd cheers. Newspaper poster quotes Chamberlain's statement: "Peace in Our Time." Newspaper headlines about the Agreement. Map shows Nazi encrouchment on Czechoslovakia. In violation of the Munich agreement, German forces roll into Czechoslovakia, on March 14, 1939. Local residents give Nazi salute from sidewalks. Animated map shows area of German occupation with Poland next. Prime Minister Chamberlain telling an audience that a threat to Polish independence would start a general conflagration involving Britain. Hitler attending a formal occasion. Star shown atop a building in Moscow, Russia. British, French and German military missions arriving at airport to confer with Soviets. Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov shakes hands wih German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop. August 23, 1939 Newspaper headline reads: "Russo-German Pact Signed." German and Russian diplomats sit at a table. Joseph Stalin and Molotov reviewing troops on parade in Red Square.
Map of Czechoslovakia showing the four sections of Sudetenland annexed by Nazi Germany as part of the Munich Agreement with arrows pointing towards Prague. Sudeten Germans perform the Nazi salute as the German Army enters a Liberec, Czechoslovakia prior to World War II. Girls performing the Hitler salute while holding Nazi Germany flags. Tanks, trucks, and various armored vehicles enter town. Civilians greet the Wehrmacht soldiers as they goose step march into town. Sudeten German women in the crowd cheer and hold bouquet of flowers. Liberec civilian men perform the Nazi salute. Wehrmacht soldiers marching with Nazi standards. A saluting cavalryman leads a parade of infantry troops. Military band plays music beside civilian crowds and young boys. Hand attaches a pin of the Sudeten German Party (Sudetendeutsche Partei or SdP). Standard of the Sudeten German Party in Czechoslovakia.
Russian Ambassador to Czechoslovakia Valerian Zorin in Czechoslovakia. Valerian Zorin addresses the meeting of the Society for Cultural Relations with the USSR. Large posters of Soviet figures Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin hang behind Zorin. The audience listen to Zorin’s speech. Zorin speaks into a microphone. The crowd applauds.
President Franklin D Roosevelt in the United States. A calendar shows the date 5th March 1933. Roosevelt leaves in a car after attending church service in Washington DC, United States on 5th March 1933. On March 9th 1933 Senate passes a bill proposed by Roosevelt to address bank crisis. The House also passes the President's proposed bill . Inside the White House, Franklin Roosevelt in his first fireside chat broadcasts on March 12, 1933, and talks about the bank crisis. He asks people to have confidence in the government. He ensures that banks will provide sufficient currency to meet the situation.