Opening scene shows a Russian steel gateway topped by a propeller and two stars. Camera pans down to show that this is the entrance to a Soviet airfield containing a damaged hangar and Soviet military aircraft scattered about. Closeup of a destroyed Soviet airplane. A damaged Soviet Tupolev Tu-2 bomber. Numerous damaged Soviet Polikarpov I-15 bi--wing fighter aircraft. Caissons and Soviet artillery sitting at a railroad siding. Closeup of a damaged artillery piece. Numerous pieces of abandoned soviet artillery, sitting next to heavy guns mounted on rail cars. Soviet tanks missing their turrets. A German soldier examines what looks like a damaged British Mark V tank of World War I vintage. Camera pans over a number of undamaged Soviet tanks parked in a field. Thousands of captured Soviet prisoners of war are seen on a hillside, and then marching under guard. Closeup of one with a large star on his uniform hat. Soviet prisoners being marched about ten-abreast along a road. (Note: about 20 thousand Soviet troops were captured by the Germans in Operation Barbarossa.)
The Russian campaign of World War II. Idle Russian artillery in a field, and corpse of a dead Soviet soldier beside an artillery gun. German soldiers moving on a small rail cart along a railroad track, as seen from on board the moving small rail car. The cart is stopped and the soldiers moving along the side of the rail track.The soldiers at a railroad yard. Point of view of a German soldier looking out from a partially covered position and firing a machine gun at enemy Soviet soldiers. Elevated view of the railroad yard with a group of soldiers walking through it. German soldiers moving through the wooden gate of a building in a town. German soldiers again moving on a rail cart on a rail track. Damaged buildings on the side of the marshalling yard. Damaged buildings and debris scattered on the ground. German soldiers in a repair crew replacing rails and changing the gauge of the rails on the yard. The crewmen at work on the rail track. A locomotive moving on the track. German soldiers aboard the locomotive.
German invasion of Russia, Soviet Union (Operation Barbarossa). Early morning in Berlin with quiet street scenes during World War II. Hands of a clock in view. A man unloads milk cans from a truck. German radio broadcasting studios. A man operates controls. View of radio tower and buildings. Men enter an office. A sign announces broadcast in progress and requests quiet and no entry. Propaganda Minister Dr Joseph Goebbels enters the room and sits on a sofa. He announces Germany has launched an offensive on the Eastern Front as Germany's actions represent declaration of war against the Soviet Union. Officers stand in the background. Several men seated in cars, listen to radio broadcast. German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop makes the announcement to journalists at a crowded news conference. Newspapers carry the story. Cameramen take photographs. Animated map depicts the Eastern front extending more than 5 thousand kilometers from Finland in the North to Romania in the South. This is Operation Barbarossa. German troops invade Russia. A ship underway and a bridge in view. Heavy German guns bombard targets. Smoke rises up. Street signs such as "Eydtkau" are shown as evidence of advances. German troops dismantle border barriers. German tanks and artillery advancing Eastward, encountering resistance. They blow up a building.
Romanian Marshal Ion Antonescu arrives by aircraft to inspect German and Romanian troops on the Eastern front, during World War II. He is greeted by Nazi officers including General Erich von Manstein. He greets the Romanian General in charge of local mountain troops. Antonescu reviews troop formations and converses with the senior officers. He speaks to individual soldiers. He examines the coat of one of the soldiers.
German troops at the Eastern Front during World War II . Animated map illustrates Eastern Prussian-Lithuanian border and German troop's movement into Kaunas German troops stand near a field gun. Troops loaded on tanks and march forward. They fire a gun. Smoke arises due to fire. Damaged buildings due to fire. Trucks loaded with troops and as they enter a city. Kaunasians wave to passing German vehicles. A view of the city. Lithuanian villagers present flowers to advancing German troops. A German soldier on a bicycle waves.
Nazi Operation Barbarossa (Invasion of Soviet Union during World War II). A map of Eastern Front. Flare goes up in dark. The silhouettes of troops in dark. Artillery fire and burning target in East Prussia. Troops raise a barricade at a border post. German troops move cautiously forward. Explosion occurs in a building