Radio as a propaganda tool during wartime

Radio as a means of strengthening the community during wartime. Behind the scenes at a radio station. A woman checks on the progress of a record; a man and woman in white lab coats monitor wires in a large room filled with broadcast equipment. A man in a party uniform reads a message from a wife to her soldier husband. A large map of Europe hangs on the wall behind the man. Another man reads the war news into a microphone. A telex machine types out a news story. The camera pans downward, seemingly through the floors of the building to an orchestra playing on a lower floor. The scene changes to a room where three men discuss on-location reports for a radio program. There is a portrait of Adolf Hitler hanging in the background. A man is shown being dispatched to do his report with the instruction that it can last three minutes and not one second longer. The man is shown at an obviously staged location where an allied bombing raid has occurred. A soldier appears in the rubble-strewn background as the reporter says that the "Jewish-enslaved war criminals" are responsible for this terror bombing of defenseless German women and children. The next report is from a kindergarten class which is taking place outdoors. While the children are shown exercising and eating the announcer says that the incomparable will for life is what makes it strong against its criminal enemies. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the springtime play of children. An infant receives a bath in a metal tub; children singing. A man sitting in front of a microphone reads the "Wehrmacht" report from the Fuehrerhauptquartier. Several radio announcers are shown reporting on the news from the FHQ in various languages. A graphic of a globe and radio waves appears in the scene. More technical scenes showing how the radio station operates. Hans Fritzsche, head of the Radio Division in the Propaganda Ministry appears and speaks briefly. Another orchestra playing, in front of a live audience. Hans Hinkel, the official in charge of culture at the Propaganda Ministry is introduced to the audience. He says that it is the special wish of Dr. Goebbels that the Gross Deutsche Rundfunk serve the needs of the soldiers and the German people during this decisive war. Three men huddled around a speaker listen to a broadcast; a large portrait of Hitler hangs on the wall behind them. The next scene shows men at the radio station receiving and then broadcasting a "Sondermeldung" [special report] from the FHQ. Shots of soldiers speaking into microphones are superimposed over battle scenes while triumphant music plays. The sequence ends with a uniformed man sitting in front of a microphone. He identifies himself as a member of the Propagandakompanie. The last scenes show people going about their daily lives listening to the radio. Among these are a woman lying in bed looking longingly at a photo of a soldier and a group of soldiers meant to be at the front, listening to the radio by candlelight.