Film opens showing map of Czechoslovakia and various sections perceived early in World War 2. View of military ceremony with German swastika flag being raised over newly occupied Czechoslovakian territory. Momentary glimpse of Nazi flag flying in snow covered mountains, and mountain troops nearby. Map is shown again, this time highlighting Czech Republic – Slovakia (Tschecho – Slowakei). Closeup of that area is labeled Sudete Germans (Sudete Deutsche). Next are views of German Chancellor, Adolf Hitler, British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, Benito Mussolini, Italian Premier, and French Prime Minister, Édouard Daladier, each signing the accords acquiescing to Hitler’s demands concerning the annexation of the Sudetenlands. (The Munich Agreement.) View of German newspaper announcing the pact. Closeup of a border marker showing Seal of Czechoslovakia. German troops throw it down and allow others to enter, some on a motorcycle with sidecar. German soldiers use a hatchet to cut the Czech seal from the downed border post. German Panzer I tanks begin crossing the border. (Anti tank devices are seen unused in the foreground.) Next, Adolf Hitler is seen visiting with German officers who guide him on a tour. He steps inside what appears to be a large canvas field tent. Scene shifts to a town (in Eger or Egerland), where a German armored car is parked in the center of the road as German soldiers on motorcycles pass it, followed by others in German Hanomag Sd. Kfz. 11 Half-Tracks towing 4-wheeled 88mm guns. Welcoming citizens crowd the sidewalks and cheer them. Formation of German troops marches slowly into the town. Closeup of local people enthusiastically cheering them. A contingent of local youth march carrying many flags. View of houses and streets decorated with swastikas and crowds jamming the sidewalks. A church with many spires looms over the town. Adolf Hitler at a speaker’s stand, as huge crowd renders Nazi salute. Hitler, later standing in an open car driving slowly through the throng. Overview of picturesque city in a valley surrounded by mountains. View in the city of Hitler walking with entourage of officers and saluting, as he passes numerous Panzer I tanks lined up side by side and their crews. View from rear as they pass the camera. Hitler standing on a balcony saluting a vast crowd gathered below. More views of him standing in an open car moving amidst the crowds. Hitler and others in a motorcade. View from ground of church spires and a zeppelin passing overhead. Scene shifts to grass airfield where Hermann Goering and others walks toward a Junkers Ju 52 airplane that is just taxiing in to park. Goering speaks to a young German airman. View of Goering in town amongst a crowd. He gives a piece of candy to a little girl, held by her mother. Goering accompanying Hitler as he walks about a town. A banner reading “Lebensmitteltransport für das Deutsche Sudetenland.” (Food transport for the German Sudetenland.) Open air food cooking stoves are seen and one where people around are being fed. Closeup of some people eating and being served.
Infantrymen of U.S. 3rd Division, 30th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Battalion advance in Vieux-Brisach, (aka Breisach am Rhein) Germany during World War II. Soldiers run into trenches along the bank of Rhine River across from the city. The interiors of outpost overlooking Rhine River. A soldier looks through binoculars as another uses walkie-talkie to direct artillery fire. German outpost being shelled by U.S. artillery fire and smoke billows up from explosions. The ancient building being shelled, sitting on the highest hill in the area, is the 12th Century St. Stephan's Cathedral (German: Das Breisacher Stephansmünster)
Meeting between Portuguese Mission to the U.S. and U.S. Minister to Portugal in Lisbon. Exteriors of American Embassy in Lisbon. Interiors of American Consulate shows American consul at desk talk to his secretary. Immigrants present documents at desk. Meeting between U.S. Minister to Portugal Bert Fish and the Portuguese Mission to the U.S. Mr. Bert Fish stands between U.S. Military attache and Commander Colonel Robert Solberg and U.S. Naval attache Kenneth Demarest. The Portuguese Military Mission includes Lieutenant Colonel Joviano Lopes, Captain Jose Belesa Ferraz, and Captain Luiz da Camara Pinn. Naval Mission includes Commander Libera de Camara, Captain Oliveria Pinto and 1st Lieutenant Henrique Jorges. Portuguese Air Mission includes Colonel Craveiro Lopes, Major Costa Macedo, and Lieutenant Oliveira Seixas. Colonel Solberg speaks to Portuguese colleagues. Mr. Birt Fish speaks to other members of the Mission.
U.S. Army 88th Division troops advance along a road, in the Apennine Mountains of Italy, in final days of World War 2. Members of an Italian Alpinieri Brigade greet them. They serve wine to the soldiers as they pass through the area. Italian soldiers are gathered around a wagon where they drink wine from a large barrel. American infantrymen, in succession, without breaking step, sip wine from a metal cup offered by an Italian Alpinieri trooper. Another view of the Italian soldiers around the wagon containing their wine barrel. In change of scene, American infantry of the 10th Mountain Division are seen moving down a slope, single file, to a mountain road and then proceeding across a small stream in a barren region of the mountains. Later, as they proceed on either side of a mountain road, a jeep passes in the road center, raising dust. The Americans pass Italian troops relaxing near destroyed buildings. Several sit on remains of an Italian Centauro armored personnel carrier overgrown with weeds. Next, a mountain road is seen, clogged with jeeps and trucks. Along the side of the crowded road, Italian soldiers of the Salmerie da Combattimento, 5° group " Montecassino" (Baggage Combat, 5th group "Montecassino") are seen walking with their mules, fully loaded with rations and medical supplies. One of them has been identified as Mario Pace, (Rome 1923-1995) along with his mule, Adeodato. The Italian Baggage Combat Group and mules, continue along the road .(Note: Under the name "5th Pack Mule Group", this Italian unit was assigned the task of bringing supplies to front line combat troops in the mountains.) They are followed by U.S. soldiers on horseback with more horses and mules.
German civilians rush towards a road to catch a glimpse of the arrival of German chancellor Adolf Hitler in western Germany. Germans give the Nazi salute upon the arrival of Adolf Hitler’s car. Hitler gives a Nazi salute and a military salute while standing in his Mercedes-Benz W31 type G4 staff/command car with the plate number “WH 32291”. Hitler meets Nazi military officials. Hitler and Nazi military officials leaning on fence together while civilian Germans look on. Hitler inspects a bunker, which is located in the Siegfried Line defense fortification. Artillery shell is lifted by a crane. Front page of the Volkischer Beobachter newspaper announcing the visit of Adolf Hitler in the Siegfried Line (known as the “Westwall” in Germany) with headline, "Mein Führer! Der Weftwall fteht und wird baltern, fomme, was da wolle!" Rough translation, "My Leader! The WestWall is standing and will remain, come what may!"
Italian studies and heritage of the Columbia University in New York City. A man reads a book while sitting under the statue, Alma Mater, in front of the Low Memorial Library of the Columbia University. People walking outside the Low Memorial Library and the grounds of the Columbia University (2960 Broadway, New York, NY 10027, United States). View of the Casa Italiana building (1151–1161 Amsterdam Ave., New York, New York) of the Columbia University. Entrances to the Casa Italiana and its library. Entrance reads “CASA ITALIANA LIBRARY DONATED BY CHARLES V. PATERNO M.D.”. Students and visitors study and read books inside the Casa Italiana Library. A teacher approaches a young woman reading a book. A bespectacled young man reading a thick book inside the library. A young man flipping through the pages of a book. A young woman reads a book about Italian historical figures such as Dante Alighieri and Giuseppe Garibaldi. A professor holding a lecture on Giuseppe Garibaldi at Columbia University. Male students listen to a lecture. Students viewing a portrait of Lorenzo Da Ponte, the first professor of Italian literature at Columbia University. Students passing through the Morgan Gate of Harvard University. Widener Library (1 Harvard Yard, Cambridge, MA 02138, United States) is in the background. A woman admires a vespa scooter parked outside Harvard University. Students walking on the grounds of Harvard University. Professor Charles S. Singleton, an American scholar who specializes in medieval Italian literature, speaks about Dante Alighieri in Italian. Professor Singleton talks about Italian culture in America while surrounded by many books.