Soviet Officers collecting souvenirs after the fall of Berlin in World War 2. Flag of First Reich Imperial Germany and one of a large Swastika are seen in opening scene. A Soviet soldier unfolds a very large embroidered flag of Imperial Germany before a Soviet officer. A soldier hands a sword to Soviet Marshal Ivan Konev, who examines it. Next, three Soviet SU85 Tank Destroyers, each carrying more than a dozen Soviet soldiers and officers, are seen moving along a street in Berlin. Liberated French, Italian and Belgians parade. A liberated Frenchman carries the French tricolor flag while riding a bicycle. A Soviet soldier plays the accordion surrounded by comrades. More liberated marchers and more SU85 Tank Destroyers carrying soldiers. A soviet Colonel marching with some members of his army unit. Suddenly soldiers of his unit surround him and hoist him atop their shoulders. Soviet soldier accordionist plays those surrounding him sing and clap. One soldier dances. Two soldiers riding a tandem bicycle. Group of Soviet officers pose for a formal portrait by a photographer. Large group of Soviet soldiers and officers pose while some soldiers take photographs with personal cameras. Another groups posing in front of a building as an army photographer takes their picture. Graffiti on wall reads (in German) "Berlin remains German". More walls with the same message. Several messages in Russian inscribed on the pillars of buildings. Red Soviet flag waving in the breeze.
A film about achievements and role of African Americans in the United States. A newspaper headlines about African American athletes at the Berlin Olympics of 1936. Spectators in a stadium. Athletes at a start line for a 100 meter race. Judge fires starting gun and race is underway. African American athletes Jesse Owens and Ralph Metcalfe of the U.S. win gold and silver medals. German and Japanese participants jump over in a High Jump event. African American athlete Cooper Johnson sets a new Olympic record in the event.
In Berlin, at the end of World War 2, in Europe, a large group of ordinary people gather at a hill of debris where a building once stood. Men and Women use shovels to dig dirt from sidewalk and place it in buckets, that others pass up the hill, in a bucket brigade. Closeup of people filling the buckets at the base of the pile of debris. The bucket brigade consists mostly of women. They transfer the filled buckets up the hill and empty ones down via a separate group of volunteers. The buckets are emptied at the top of the heap. Some women transfer large fragments of concrete to one another. The entire project seems intended to clear more space in the sidewalks and streets. View from a high point reveals skeletons of tall buildings and other groups doing similar work to clear rubble from the city walks and roads.
At the end of World War 2, in Europe, citizens of Berlin (mostly women) cooperate in a bucket brigade to clear rubble from their walks and streets. Lacking any machinery, they use shovels to fill buckets and pass them up the hill of debris at the base of bombed out buildings. A train passes below damaged roadway where camera is located. Camera pans to the cleanup site, where dozens of people are occupied. Closup of a man using a mason's hammer to break concrete slabs so they can be moved by hand. Women inside the walls of a demolished building, where they empty the buckets and throw the concrete slabs.
The Russians capture the city of Berlin during World War II. A railroad station, bridges, monuments, public buildings and churches are ruined in Berlin. Officers and men of German Army are taken as prisoners by the Soviet army. 'Kapitulieren ?' (surrender under agreed conditions) written on a wall. White surrender flags hang from the windows of the same building which featured swastika banners. German prisoners and Russian officers on the streets.
Interrogation of a German officer by Russian forces after the capture of Berlin at the end of World War II in Europe. The German officer is interrogated by a Russian officer at a desk. The German officer points out positions on a map. He also demonstrates the shaking hand or tremor of hand seen in Hitler. Russian officers examine charred bodies in Berlin. A possible Hitler doppelgänger or body double is among the dead.