Invasion of U.S.S.R. on 22 June 1941 (German code name: Operation Barbarossa) during World War II. Early morning street activities in Berlin on the morning of invasion of USSR. Preparation for a broadcast at radio station. At 5:30 AM German Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels sits at desk and makes an announcement. People listening. Foreign Minister of Germany, Joachim Von Ribbentrop walks into conference. Newspaper headline.
Opening scene shows Wolf-Heinrich von Helldorf, Chief of the Berlin Germany police, reviewing a contingent of police as they march past him. Scene shifts to courtroom, where he is being tried for conspiracy in the July 20th plot to kill Adolf Hitler. The venue is the People's Court (Volksgerichtshof) presided over by the Court's President, Roland Freisler, who does all the talking during the proceeding. Von Helldorf stands quietly before the court, while Freisler berates him. The court is filled with military and civilian officials.
Film opens showing Adolf Hitler, in uniform, on the balcony of his new Reichs Chancellery on Wilhelmplatz (completed in 1939). He is accompanied by Deputy Fuhrer, Rudolf Hess and Schutzstaffel Leader, Julius Schrek. Supporters crowd the square and cheer them. Scene shifts to a nighttime rally, and then to Closeup of Hermann Goering on a balcony with others (unidentified). Glimpse of a Schutzstaffel brass band marching in torchlight parade and Hitler saluting from a balcony. Schutzstaffel assembled in Wilhelmplatz (77 Wilhelmstraße, 10117 Berlin, Germany). Some spectators climb a tree to get better view of events. Crowd returning Nazi salute to Hitler standing alone on Reichs Chancellery balcony. Inserted slate reads: "Memorial Day, 1936."
Opening scene shows many thousands gathered in a Nazi rally at Zeppelin Field in Nuremberg. Adolf Hitler shakes hands with some Nazi Storm Troopers (Sturmabteilung). Next, Hitler is seen on stage with German President, Paul von Hindenburg, when he was appointed Chancellor of Germany on 30 January 1933. German troops and some sailors parade, in honor of Hindenburg, along Unter den Linden in Berlin. A contingent does goosestep march past Neue Wache. Camera records various views of the parade. A military band plays for the marchers, while standing in formation in the center of the avenue.
A month before the end of World War 2, in Europe, an American gun crew is seen with 105 mm howitzer set up under a camouflage net at the edge of a field next to a road near Lubbecke (Lübbecke), Germany. The gun crew is from the U.S. 326th Field Artillery Battalion,84th Infantry Division. The crew loads and fires several rounds. After the first round is fired, one crewman rubs the barrel where the name of their gun, "Berlin Bound," is painted. Local homes can be seen around the field. At end, a brief glimpse of the gun from the road, shows that it is set up close to several large German homes.
Film opens showing large cloud of white smoke rising from a rocket propelled rail car. That is followed by a series of still pictures showing various designs of German rocket pioneer, Reinhold Tilling. Next, the airplane used to test fire Tilling's rockets at altitude, in 1933, is seen, with rockets slung beneath its wings. Pilot is seen climbing into the airplane cockpit. This is followed by series of photographs taken from the ground as rockets are fired from the plane. The airplane is seen small, at altitude, in some. Scene shifts to fire raging at one of Reinhold Tilling workshops, at Osnabruck, Germany, where he and two assistants were fatally injured when gunpowder charges they were compressing for rocket engines, exploded on October 10, 1933. Slate (in German) reads German rocket pioneer engineer Reinhard Tilling shot one of his rockets, on Tempelhof Feld near Berlin, 800 meters into the air. The rocket landed 500 meters away from the launch site, on November 13, 1932. Change of scene shows men standing in a boat on Lake Dümmersee as they retrieve a Tilling postal rocket from the water. Its wings are extended in the glide position. Views of other boats on the lake and of men holding several folded postal rockets.
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