View of the Elbe River, at Tangermunde, after Germany surrendered in World War 2. Objects floating in the water. Closeup shows twisted steel of severely damaged bridge over the river. Some German soldiers are seen crossing the bridge. View of bridge from American-occupied bank of the Elbe. The bridge span is seen to have dropped to touch the water on the other side of the river. Two young women in their underwear, rush along a path in a park on one bank of the river. A German soldier with face bandaged accompanies a young woman along the path. a German soldier smoking a cigarette, stands near a park bench. One of the young women, previously seen, stands, now wrapped in a tarp covering, next to an American tank. The twisted bridge is immediately behind her. She walks past the camera. Scene shifts to people crossing the bridge. A woman carrying a baby in arms hurries past several German soldiers seated on the ground. Next, many women and children are seen with their belongings, trudging past the seated German soldiers. Two women walk past the camera, one wearing a German Army uniform. Scene shifts to opposite side of the Elbe River, where the dropped bridge span touches the water. German soldiers are making their way across on planks placed there temporarily. A German soldier and a woman help an injured soldier on the river bank. German soldiers are gathered beneath the bridge span. Two help a third who is in the water. Two German soldiers, one a Red Cross medic, carry the man, as numerous German civilians surrounding them, look on. Closeup of German soldiers carrying arms, including panzerfaust (hand-held anti-tank weapon), crossing the bridge. They pass an American soldier on the American-occupied side of the Elbe, where they must deposit their arms with others already stacked in piles.
United States soldiers, including a United States Military Red Cross Medic, advance towards an apartment block in Halle, Germany during World War 2. United States Army officers discuss together as they confer to map, behind them a soldier looking at camera from top of tank. United States soldiers crouch in front of brick wall. Gate with words “Feuerwehr” (“Fire Department” in German). United States soldier sprints across street. United States soldier on lookout on the streets of Halle, Germany. A Sherman tank in front of building. United States soldier sprints across street towards a doorway. Soldiers climb over destroyed walls. Sherman tank fires on the street. White flag drapes from fence in Halle, Germany. Sign says “Halle Saale”. United States soldiers with Sherman tank marches in Halle, Germany. United States soldiers open a wooden door and enter. White flag on tree in a street with German civilians and United States soldiers in Halle, Germany. American Sherman tank drives over rifles confiscated from German soldiers. Soldier fires with machine gun from house window. Soldiers dash across street towards doorway of German house. Soldier sprints towards a doorway of apartment.
Allied forces advance deeper into Germany after crossing the Rhine. Bergen-Belsen Nazi concentration camp in Germany during World War II. Allied planes in sky. Allied troops advance in Germany after crossing Rhine River. U.S. soldiers held prisoners by Germany are liberated from a POW camp by British forces. Scenes of jubilant freed American prisoners cheering their British rescuers and having food and drink. Some of the freed prisoners hold a newspaper announcing the death of U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt. Displaced civilian persons walk on roadways as refugees carrying few possessions. They had been slave laborers for the Germans. Some walk along slowly with no shoes. Prisoners freed from Belsen concentration camp by the British 11th Armored Division. The German prison Camp Commandant, Josef Kramer, seen under guard by British soldiers. Emaciated and unburied corpses on the grounds of Bergen-Belsen camp. Emaciated man seated. Emaciated corpses being thrown into a mass grave. German women made to view the atrocities are seen crying and weeping. Prisoners behind barbed wire. Medics tend to a prisoner. Various views of different concentration camp victims. U.S. planes in flight.
Mix of actor portrayals and actual footage: Church, homes and schools of America. Various United States soldiers. Views of German soldiers. German soldiers marching in a parade ground. Rulers and dictators of Germany: Adolf Hitler (World War II), Kaiser Wilhelm II, Otto Von Bismarck who laid identity of Germany as Nazi, Huns, and Prussians respectively. Historic overview of Germany. Princes and feudalistic rulers of the states. In contrast the US, French and British parliamentary system. King Frederick, the Great of Prussia with his cavalry and in his court. Prussian war against Austria, Russia, Sweden, France. German women wave for victorious troops. Portraits of Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. Dictums of Clausewitz, crushing of the 1848 revolt in Prussia. Germans emigrate to the U.S. Otto Von Bismarck addresses the ministry his policies of blood and iron.
A film titled ' Airborne armies join big attack on Germany' shows Allied airborne troops getting into planes to join the attack on Germany during World War II. Planes take off and paratroopers land in Germany while in mid air to reinforce Army units in field.
Allied bombers bombard heavy German industries during World War II. Allied planes in the sky and a convoy underway at a sea heading for Normandy. Allied troops land in Normandy. Men wading ashore after disembarking from landing crafts. Allied Supreme Command in meeting. General George C. Marshall confers with British officers. United States Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bomber (“One Night Stand”) drop bombs over Germany. More bombers dropping bombs over enemy position. Aerial view of bombs hitting factories in Germany. Captured German troops in a forest. Abandoned German tanks left on the road in the Eastern Front. Allied troops advance in the Ardennes Forest. German tank production at a factory in Plauen, Saxony, Germany. Undercarriage of a tank. Tank tracks and wheels. United States bombers bomb tank factories in Saxony. Ruins and rubble of the destroyed tank factory. Transport and communication centers are bombed.