A picture of Bernt Leuton, a resident of East Berlin East Germany, who fled to West Berlin West Germany. Border guards at the Communist side of Berlin in East Germany. View of Leuton on August 13, 1961 after being shot by an East German guard, after successfully swimming across the connecting canal. He is hauled out by West German guards. A map of the world. Narrator begins to trace history of Bernt Leuton's shooting by recounting prior events in history of Russia and Soviet Union. View of the Winter Palace of Czar Nicholas II, with the Czar and Czarina Alexandra standing on a balcony. Saint Petersburg, Russia on January 22nd , 1905 : Peasants and workers, with their leader Russian Orthodox Priest, Father Georgi Gapon, gathered outside the palace to deliver a petition to Czar Nicholas II. A number of the people carry banners. A picture of Czar Nicholas II. Reenactment of Czar's armed cossack cavalry dispersing the crowd, The words 'My autocracy will remain unchanged' issued by the Czar to which Father Gapon replies that they "no longer have a Czar." Picture of Father George Gapon. Picture of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, and moving images of Lenin speaking. The Czar Nicholas II and his wife, escorted by guards, moving on a path during a ceremony. The Czar mounting a horse and the guards saluting him. A picture of the Czar's wife and hemophiliac son. Picture of Russian mystic Grigori Rasputin, whose occult powers were believed to have kept the Czar's son alive.
The ship Aurora, a Pallada-class cruiser of the Russian Navy, fires a blank shot from a forecastle gun at the Winter Palace in Petrograd (now known as Saint Petersburg), signaling the start of the October Revolution on October 24 1917 O.S. (November 6 1917 N.S). Revolutionary Bolsheviks, holding rifles and the Bolshevik flag, stand on a vehicle driving in Saint Petersburg. The gate at the Winter Palace (Palace Embankment, Dvortsovy Municipal Okrug, Central District, Saint Petersburg, Russia). Bolsheviks on the balcony of the Winter Palace. Vladimir Lenin smiling. Cheering Russians crowd Saint Petersburg. Vladimir Lenin addresses the crowd during the Russian Revolution.
Russian movie depiction of the storming of the Romanoff's winter palace during the 1917 revolution in Russia.(This is a fictional event that never occurred.) Scene shifts to election campaigning on a street in Moscow, in conjunction with the November 25th elections arranged by political leader Alexander Fyodorovich Kerensky. Bolshevik leader Vladimir Ilyich Lenin is seen with several comrades. A truck carrying Bolsheviks with a banner drives on a street, as a pedestrian gives it a dismissive wave. (Bolsheviks lost the election to the Socialist Revolutionary Party, or SR.) Soviet troops loyal to Leon Trotsky march in the street. View of elected members from the Russian assembly in their meeting place. Catherine Breshkovsky, sometimes called Babushka, or the grandmother of the Russian Revolution, is seen standing and addressing the meeting. The faction of the SR not supporting Lenin is seen leaving the building. Thousands of citizens gathered outside the building, protesting the dismissal of their elected representatives. Image of Lenin.
March 1917 revolution in Russia. Russians marching on the streets of Petrograd (now known as Saint Petersburg). A man throws Bolshevik leaflets at a passing tram. Men and women grab leaflets. More communist pamphlets and leaflets thrown at crowds. Crowds holding handwritten signs in Russian as they parade in the streets. Crowds waving their hats. Bolshevik men and women in uniform raise their swords. Russians with rifles and hats smiling. A Bolshevik soldier smashes a Russian Empire double headed eagle (Crest of the Royal Family) with the butt of his rifle from the facade of a building. Russian crowds gathered in a square.
White Russian Guards, who made their headquarters in Alexander Palace, are seen on parade in Palace Square, St. Petersburg. Crowds jam the square to watch the parade. Some spectators scramble up on the ornate palace gates. (During period of Russian Revolution and World War 1.)
Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin arrives at a political rally at the Russian capital Petrograd (now Saint Petersburg) during World War 1. Crowds with Russian communist placards showing support for Vladimir Lenin, who recently returned from his exile in Switzerland. Vladimir Lenin, wearing a thick black coat, addresses the crowd. A man addresses the crowd at the Nevsky Prospect, the main street of Saint Petersburg. Aux Gourmets (O’Gurme in Russian) store, specializing in imported food from Europe, can be seen in the background. A Bolshevik addresses the crowd in Nevsky Prospekt. A woman behind a placard makes an emotional speech to the crowd. Bolsheviks distribute pamphlets to the crowd. Russian military officials disembark from a car, making their way through the crowd. Bolshevik supporters rallying, marching through the streets of Saint Petersburg while holding placards and banners. More leaflets are distributed to supporters. Vladimir Lenin speaking privately.