On February 23, 1945, Allies commence operations to cross the Ruhr River in Germany, during World War 2. U.S. artillery soldiers fire 155mm guns from West bank of Ruhr River, against German lines on the East bank. Troops of Allied 1st and 9th Armies await signal to follow advance platoons that crossed the Ruhr earlier. Compelling close-up views of serious expressions on faces of U.S. Army soldiers as they prepare to move forward. M4 Sherman tanks fire guns at the river edge. Through misty conditions, troops of 104th Infantry Division, 415th Regiment, carry assault craft and begin crossing the river and attacking the industrial area of North Duren. U.S. soldiers are seen running across fields near large factory buildings and firing from them. Troops walk along street in Duren, after its capture. U.S. troops seen entrenched. A medic adjusts his personal flotation belt. Two U.S. Army soldiers smoking cigarettes while standing in a ditch with flotation devices around their waists as they wait the moment for the river crossing. They leave their positions and move along a road to cross the river at Linnich. All soldiers are wearing personal flotation belts as they paddle small assault boats across the swift moving river under enemy fire. One assault boat is overturned. Drenched soldiers make it to land and continue their advance. Army engineers construct a floating footbridge, under enemy fire. A soldier runs across the bridge as an American light airplane flies low overhead, surveying the operation. U.S. troops move through destroyed towns and villages. Large column of captured German prisoners of war is marched toward the rear, with arms held above their heads, passing by giant piles of debris and wreckage from bombing of the town.
American, Russian and British soldiers near the Elbe River in Torgau Germany. They stand in front of an "East Meets West" sign on the banks of the river. Generals wait to cross Elbe River. General Reinhardt sits in racing scull. General is rowed across Elbe River in racing scull. General with others disembark on opposite shore of river. Sign "East meets West". GIs of 69th Division shakes hands with Russian Red Army soldier. GIs shake hands with Soviet soldiers. (Note: Opening cameraman slate lists date as 2-24-45, but this event is known to have occurred on April 25 - 26, 1945.) (World War II period).
Hanging of a Nazi war criminal in Landsberg, Germany after end of World War 2. . American Military officers stand and converse near the gallows. The condemned man, attended by guards and a priest, comes out of a building. They climb the stairs of the scaffold for hanging. An American Field Grade Officer speaks of charges against the condemned man. Soldiers stand near the gallows and watch the hanging. The hooded, condemned man is dropped through a trap by the executioner, Johann Reichhardt, who wears the traditional German executioners’ attire of black coat, white shirt and, black bow tie and black hat. (Reichardt who is clearly seen standing on the platform, was a principal executioner for the Third Reich. But he was subsequently employed by the Occupation Authorities from November 1945, through May, 1946. to help execute Nazi war criminals at Landsberg am Lech by hanging. He was subsequently arrested in 1947, interned, and tried in a tribunal at Munich, where he was sentenced to strict punishment measures.) A military doctor uses a stethoscope to confirm death of the hanging man.
United States and Soviet Union soldiers celebrate their victory as world War 2 comes to an end in Germany. "Elbe Day": Soviet and American soldiers meet at the River Elbe on 25-26 April, 1945. View of Nazi swastika being blown up at Zeppelinfeld in Nuremberg Germany in 1945. Scenes of celebration in the streets of Paris with French civilians cheering American and French soldiers and celebrating the end of World War 2. French women kiss soldiers. Crowd gathered in Times Square in New York City celebrating VE-Day (Victory in Europe Day). Foreign Ministers of fifty nations arrive at San Francisco to sign the United Nations Charter. United States President Harry S. Truman addresses the delegates at the closing ceremony of the conference on June 26, 1946. Ships bring American soldiers back home, including some wounded, after World War 2. Women and families on dock at harbor wave and smile at arriving troop ship with American soldiers returning home. Also seen are soldiers of other countries including Soviet Russian soldiers returning to their families at a train station, with smiling and tearful family reunions. Cemeteries with headstones honoring soldiers who died in the war. Military hardware being scrapped to make peacetime goods. Views of explosive charges being set and military aircraft being blown up for scrap. Piles of scrapped military vehicles. A woman in a factory organizes newly manufactured clothes irons. Workers in a factory perform final assembly on newly manufactured ovens and stoves for homes.
With the surrender of Germany, World War 2 in Europe ends, on VE (Victory in Europe) Day, May 8, 1945. Scene opens with church bells ringing and view of west front of St. Paul's Cathedral, on Ludgate Hill, in London, England. Crowd is celebrating in the square. around the statue of Queen Anne. Amongst the crowd are men and women in uniform. Here and there Union Jack flags are seen, one held by a little girl hoisted upon a man's shoulder. Camera pans across various parts of the celebrating crowds. View from above, of several couples dancing within a circle of people. Several uniformed U.S. Air Force officers in a jeep celebrate with the crowd. High altitude view of Trafalgar Square in London, England. 'Victory over Germany 1945' banner draped on base of Nelson's Column. Crowd of British citizens celebrating on streets of Whitehall and closeup of the Cenotaph with inscription "The Glorious Dead".
Portions of a damaged film. Excerpted from original shown during the Nuremburg trials and submitted as "Exhibit USA 280." Nuremberg trial transcripts of 13 December, 1945 include the following excerpted descriptions of the footage spoken by U.S. Commander William J. Donovan: "This is a strip of motion pictures taken, we believe, by a member of the S.S., and captured by the United States military forces in an S.S. barracks near Augsburg, Germany...We have not been able to establish beyond doubt in which area these films were made...The film offers undeniable evidence, made by Germans themselves, of almost incredible brutality to Jewish people in the custody of the Nazis, including German military units. It is believed by the prosecution that the scene is the extermination of a ghetto by Gestapo agents, assisted by military units...This film was made on an eight millimetre home camera...The pictures obviously were taken by an amateur photographer...it is burned...This is a silent film....I wish to...direct the Tribunal's attention to certain of the scenes. Scene 2: A naked girl running across the courtyard. Scene 3: An older woman being pushed past the camera, and a man in S.S. uniform standing at the right of the scene. Scene 5: A man with a skull-cap and a woman are manhandled. Scene 14: A half naked woman runs out of the crowd. Scene 15: Another half-naked woman runs through the house. Scene 16: Two men drag an old man out. Scene 18: A man in German military uniform, with his back to the camera, watches. Scene 24: A general shot of the street, showing fallen bodies and naked women running. Scene 32: A shot of the street, showing five fallen bodies. Scene 37: A man with a bleeding head is hit again. Scene 39: A soldier in German military uniform, with a rifle, stands by as a crowd concentrates on a man coming out of the house. Scene 44: A soldier with a rifle, in German military uniform, walks past a woman clinging to a torn blouse. Scene 45: A woman is dragged by her hair across the street.
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