Clouds and lightening seen in the sky. A photograph of Adolf Hitler and Hermann Goering on the ground, soaking in the rain. Ruins and rubble seen in Germany in the year 1945. High rise buildings seen later. Tall buildings and streets with automobiles and pedestrians seen. A small stream is seen.
British Royal Air Force Lancaster bomber aircraft drop bombs over German targets in Dresden during night of February 13-14, 1945, during World War 2. Bombs impact and view of explosions and smoke. Two views of German scarecrow bombs exploding, designed to look like the explosion of an Allied bomber aircraft in order to intimidate the enemy. United States Army Air Force B-17 bombers attack the City of Dresden two days later on February 15-16, 1945, focusing on railroad marshaling yards. Relentless bombing by both the American and British forces destroy the city completely.
Liberated American prisoner reading the Stars & Stripes newspaper, at German prison camp for allied airmen (Stalag 7A) near Moosburg, Germany. Several American former prisoners being interviewed, include African American 2nd Lt. Alexander Jefferson, of the Tuskegee Airmen. Former prisoners posing in a group for the camera. Former prisoners strolling around the grounds of the prison, and sitting outside its buildings. (They are awaiting transport to local airfields where they will board C-47s to Camp Lucky Strike near Le Havre, France, for processing home.)
A review of significant events that occurred in the year 1945. Scenes from fourth inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt as President. Wide view of snow covered lawn of the White House, and guards positioned on the south White House lawn. View of President Roosevelt as he is sworn in as President of the United States, on the south portico of the White House due to wartime austerity measures, on January 20, 1945. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin pose at the Yalta Conference. Death of Roosevelt in April 1945. Burial procession and funeral ceremony of Franklin Roosevelt. Men and women weeping. An African American woman waves her handkerchief as she mourns. Wreath on grave of President Roosevelt. Harry S. Truman sworn in as U.S. President on April 12, 1945. Surrender of the Germans signed by General Jodl and General W.B. Smith in Reims, France. Representatives of Russia, Britain, France and United States at the surrender. General Dwight Eisenhower smiles.
Allied Control Council meeting in Berlin-Schoneberg, attended by Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, of United Kingdom; Marshal Georgy Zhukov, of Soviet Union; General Lucius D. Clay, of the United States, and General Jean se Lattre de Tassigny, of France. (World War II period).
View from above, of the surrounding walls and courtyard of a prison in Rheinbach, Germany. Ground view inside the prison yard, where German civilian Matthias Gierens is being escorted to the gallows by U.S. military police, and accompanied by a German Catholic priest, on June 29, 1945. They ascend the gallows and final charges and sentence are read to Gierens. Next scene shows bodies stacked up at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp operated by Nazi Germany. Scene returns to the gallows, and a hood is placed over Gierens' head. View of Allied army officer witnesses, in formation, at parade rest. Noose is placed over Gierens' hood. View of a a bird flying overhead, trapdoor opens, Gierens drops, and noose tightens. Next is an unrelated scene of several German soldiers being executed. They are seen hanging from four gallows in a line in a public square while a large crowd, possibly Soviet citizens, looks on. (Notes: Regarding the execution of Gierens in the opening scene: German civilian Matthias Gierens was a 37 year old railroad worker. He was executed for the August 15, 1944, murder near Priest, Germany, of a downed American airman, who was later identified as U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lieutenant Lester E. Reuss. Gierens and three other German civilians, Peter Kohn, Peter Back, and Matthias Krein, were convicted on June 2, 1945 in Ahrweiler, Germany, of the murder. Their trial was the first Allied trial in Germany of civilians charged with a war crime.)
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