Three German soldiers, who were captured in American uniforms, spying behind the American lines, in the Fall of 1944, are executed by a firing squad. In a separate sequence, one of several German civilians is marched toward gallows at Bruchsal prison near Karlsruhe, Germany. They were condemned by a military tribunal for killing six United States Army Air Force aviators who were being held as prisoners of war after crash landing their airplane near the end of the war. A hangman makes preparations. The German criminals are hanged.
International Military Tribunal sits at the Palace of Justice to try World War II Nazi leaders for war crimes in Nuremberg, Germany. Chief Prosecutor from United States, Robert Houghwout Jackson presents count 1 of indictment a conspiracy to commit war and crimes against peace and humanity. Nazi leaders at the prisoners dock. Bormann, Donitz, Frank, Frick, Fritzsche, Goring, Hess, Funk, Jodl, Katlenbrunner, Keitel, Lay, Neurath, Papen, Raeder, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Rosenberg, Sauckel, Schacht, Seyss Inquart, Schirach, Speer and Streicher. Prosecution tables as Justice Jackson continues to speak.
During Nuremberg trial Nazi leader Rudolf Franz Ferdinand Höss (sometimes spelled Höß or Hoess or Hess), the first commandant of Auschwitz concentration camp, describes the final extermination of Jews at concentration camps in Germany. Scenes of inmates and slave laborers filing past prison wire in a prison yard, wearing prison uniforms. Young children prisoners filing past and some showing tattoos on their arms. Scenes of gas chambers, piles of dead bodies, piles of gold teeth extracted from bodies, scenes of emaciated atrocity victims barely alive, and dead bodies removed from concentration camps and buried in mass burial trenches by German citizens and POW soldiers after liberation of the camp in World War 2.
Film starts showing animated map of American forces driving East from France and British forces.including the 53rd Infantry Division, from Belgium toward the Rhein (Rhine) River in Germany. Allied infantry and armor gathering on a street in France. Closeups of some soldiers in berets mingling with American troops. Left shoulder of a soldier with Engineers patch. Another with white cross in white circle. American troops entering Bad Godesburg, where many white flags are displayed. An M4A3 Sherman tank moves along a street. "Adolf Schmitz" written on building in background U.S. infantry and armor moving through the town cautiously subject to lingering sniper fire. Views of signs identifying shops and commercial establishments in the town. U.S. soldiers silhouetted looking out of an upper story of a building where they are firing a machine gun towards a sniper's nest. German soldier surrendering and being searched briefly. A wounded person being carried on a litter by two civilian men, accompanied by a woman wearing a Red Cross armband. Scene shifts to road in countryside, clogged with long line of German prisoners of war being escorted under armed guard. Closeups of some of the prisoners and guards. Views of the Rhein river with many bridges destroyed by retreating German forces. Closeup of an American tank crew in their M4A3 Sherman tank. The Bridge at Remagen, with a sign on it reading: "Cross the Rhine with dry feet courtesy of the 9th ARMD Div." American soldiers guarding the bridge against air attack man an M33 twin mount 50 caliber antiaircraft machine gun. Another gun crew firing an M45 quad mount 50 caliber antiaircraft machine gun at attacking German aircraft attempting to destroy the Remagen bridge. Another antiaircraft gun defending the bridge. View from some distance of bomb bursting near the bridge, raising a geyser of water. Back at the bridge, itself, American infantry and vehicles continue to pour across it. Closeups of some and of soldiers in the vehicles. An M4A3 Sherman tank completing the crossing and moving on the German side of the river. Infantry walking along the roadside.
Decoration of U.S. army officers in Berchtesgaden, Germany, at the former Reichskanzlei in Staggass, a week after the end of World War II in Europe. U.S. Major General Maxwell D. Taylor pins DSC (Distinguished Service Cross), Legion of Merit, and Silver Stars on U.S. officers. U.S. soldiers stand in a formation on lawn. Field Marshal Keitel's house and "Sleeping Witch" mountain in the background. Infantry march along a road. Brigadier General Gerald J. Higgins being awarded the Silver Star and Colonel William Gilmore receives promotion to Brigadier General.
German civilians around a bomb damaged building in Nuremberg, Germany during World War II. German civilians gather fire wood from bomb damaged buildings. Civilians line up with buckets as they wait to get water. Civilians walk with buckets of water. Bomb damaged building at the back.