Teacher and school children playing amid rubble in Berlin, in the aftermath of World War II. Children receiving food outdoors. Children in a school classroom being given cups of soup by their teacher. In March, 1948, a Soviet soldier is seen lowering their flag from one of four flag poles displaying it, along with flags of the British, American, and French flags. (They no longer wished to share occupation of Berlin with the other Allied powers.) View of Western representatives preparing to issue a new stable currency. Next, the Soviets block all access to West Berlin (the "Berlin Blockade.") Open rail cars filled with coal are brought to a halt in their tracks. Trucks servicing West Berlin are stopped from moving over a highway. West Berlin citizens stand at a fence watching a U.S. Army Air Forces C-47 transport plane flying supplies to them. View from below of a C-54 transport plane descending to land, with supplies, at Templehof airfield in West Berlin. A C-54 taking off to make another supply run. A pallet of coal being offloaded from a C-54. A tram running on restricted schedule. A Berliner planting food in a deserted lot near a demolished building. People assembled in front of the severely damaged Bundestag and in other places surrounded by war torn buildings. Berlin Mayor Ernst Reuter, speaks of seeking assistance from America, England, France, and Italy, to help his city. Closeups of some of the Berliners applauding him. An airlift airplane labeled "Operation Santa Claus" with a soldier dressed like Santa, dispensing wrapped gifts or candy to German children near the plane's doorway. German children can be seen and heard singing "deck the Halls" in English. A soldier dressed as St. Nicholas stands next to one dressed as a Native American Indian. Children sing Martin Luther's hymn, "Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott" ("A Mighty Fortress Is Our God"). A British Sunderland flying boat, takes off on the Havel River, in Berlin, after delivering supplies to the city. Grateful Berliners surrounding American pilots. Children run in a street carrying a large model of an airplane to simulate the Berlin airlift. Children playing "airlift" on a sidewalk. An airlift plane crashed and burning in a residential section of Berlin. German fire fighters battle the flames with hoses. A C-54 airlift plane descending to land with its gear extended. Scene at midnight, May 2, 1949, as the barriers isolating Berlin are raised, as the Soviets promised free and improved access to Berlin. People waving flowers as trucks once again move into the city. But Communists are seen violently storming the Greater Berlin City Hall in the Eastern Sector of the city. Non-Communist deputies in the Eastern Sector are forced to meet in West Berlin, where they meet without being molested. View of the Berlin Logo (Bear). Free election vote being deposited in a ballot box. Animated map shows how Berlin was cut in two, separating East Berlin from West Berlin.
Opening scene shows the Rathaus Schöneberg (John-F.-Kennedy-Platz, 10825 Berlin, Germany) where Mayor of Berlin Willy Brandt addresses a large crowd of West Berlin citizens, concerned about the building of the Berlin Wall by the Soviet Union. Many carry placards and signs, including some in English, reading: "We trust Kennedy, Pay any price, Bear any burden, for survival of Liberty" and "Millions behind the Iron Curtain ask for help." Scene shifts to a limousine driving into the center of a crowd. United States Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson steps from the car, accompanied by General Lucius D. Clay, who is seen next, with arm raised, acknowledging the crowd, while standing with Johnson and Brandt, at a podium cluttered with microphones. (Narrator refers to him as "Father of the Airlift.") The next day, British and American soldiers are seen driving in jeeps and trucks and M59 Armored Personnel Carriers, through cheering crowds, as they arrive to reinforce their Berlin garrisons. Closeup of cheering Berliners, waving handkerchiefs. Change of scene shows animated map of Europe illustrating the Westward expansion and growth of Soviet Communist occupation through World War II and the postwar era, concluding with East Berlin, in 1962. The threat to other Nations and regions is also illustrated. Legislators are seen in session in the plenary chamber of the German Bundestag in Bonn. Chancellor Konrad Adenauer is addressing the assembly. He states that Germany does not stand alone in the world. In France, Prime Minister Georges Pompidou addresses the National Assembly, regarding the Berlin Wall. In London, Prime Minister Harold Macmillan addresses Parliament. In the United States, on September 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy, is addressing the UN General Assembly, in New York, about the dangerous crisis in Berlin. Scenes of the Berlin wall and Checkpoint Charlie. Memorials to persons killed attempting to escape East Berlin, are seen along the wall.
Chief of the German Air Force (Luftwaffe), Hermann Goering, extols the capabilities and contributions of the Luftwaffe to German conquests, mentioning Poland, and France. As he speaks, a German Henschel Hs 126 observation plane is shown, followed by shots of a Messerschmitt Me-109 and formations of them flying amongst clouds, A German antiaircraft emplacement on a parapet high above a river. A lone German sentry patroling a beach and a flight of Me-109s flying low over his head. View from nose of a German bomber flying low over water. German Dornier Do-17 bombers penetrating a coastline. Pilots and gunner in bombers. Formation of Heinkel He-111 bombers in flight. Animation shows British mainland from perspective of a dive bomber heading toward the ground. Sequence finishes with explosion. Throughout the last half of the clip, a male chorus is heard singing the Luftwaffe's unofficial anthem, "Bomben auf Engelland," (Bombs on England) by Norbert Schultze (Norbert Arnold Wilhelm Richard Schultze).
Workers stand outside the French National Railway Company in France.It is snowing. They sign petitions. French policeman stands guard . In the Soviet Union, Sir Bernard Montgomery is accompanied by Russian officers while stopping to view a monumental cannon in Moscow.
United States B-17 bombers fly in formations in England. American military trucks and tanks pass through an English city with soldiers atop it. British civilians including a woman and young boy watch the procession of tanks headed for mobilization harbors in England, for the D-Day invasion of France in World War II.
Hermann Goering, Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler and others as Italy joins Germany in declaring war against Britain and France June 10, 1940 (World War II). Animated map illustrates possible Axis war plans. Aerial view of Maginot line. Fire burning from German bombing in Scandinavia. Windmill turning in Holland. Map outlines Allied strategy for defense. Views of the Ardennes Forest. French Generals examining map. British Field Marshal John Vereker (Viscount Gort) studying map with two Generals. Narrator states they dismissed German attack through the Ardennes. May 9, 1940 - News headline reports German troops on move. Netherlands and French recruit troops mobilizing. French army soldiers standing at train station platform and loading into passenger railroad trains. Exterior of the Basilique du Sacre-Coeur (Basilica of the Sacred Heart) at Montmartre, Paris. People lighting candles. Statue of Madonna and Child. Views of several churches. A Catholic Bishop blessing people. People kneeling in prayer. Hitler and other Nazi leaders, including Heinrich Himmler, Goebbels, Bormann, Hess, and Rohm, haranguing crowds. Hermann Goering leading crowd in salutes. Ludwig Muller, Reichsbischof, Hitler supporter. Many views of Germans shouting Sieg Heil. German troops moving out on May 10, 1940. Hermann Goering, chief of Luftwaffe, in uniform. German pilots run to airplanes. Ju-87 Stukas take off. D0-17 bombers take off. German tanks, motorcycle troops, armor and infantry cross borders of Luxembourg, Belgium, and Holland. Map depicts action. German forces destroy obstacles at border crossings and move past windmill in Holland.He-111 bombers in flight. German paratroops jump from Ju-52 transport over Rotterdam. They capture key facilities. Troops riding on tanks. Dutch General Henri Gerard Winkelman walks with German officer over Maas-bridges in Rotterdam. He and delegation enter building at Rijsoord to sign surrender on May 15, 1940. German bombers destroy Rotterdam. View of German bomber bomb bay doors open and bombs away toward targets. The city in flames, with sound. Remains of the city. Numerous dead civilians.
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