Twentieth Century Fox version, Reel 5: 20th July bomb plot; Hitler's 55th birthday
Creator(s)
- James B. Donovan (Compiler)
- E. R. Kellogg (Producer)
- E. R. Kellogg (Director)
- 20th Century Fox (Producer)
- United States. National Archives and Records Administration. Motion Picture Reference
Biographical History
United States Navy Lieutenant E. R. Kellogg certifies motion pictures of Nazi concentration camps in an affidavit presented in the "Nazi Concentration Camps" film by the Americans as evidence during the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg. Kellogg had expertise in motion picture and photographic techniques through his employment with Twentieth Century Fox Studios in California from 1929 to 1941. He attests that he has thoroughly examined the concentration camp liberation films of the Army Signal Corps and found them to be unaltered, genuine, and true copies of the originals in the U.S. Army Signal Corps vaults.
James B. Donovan. United States Navy Commander. Associate Prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials, where he coordinated and presented all Nazi films at the trials. General Counsel to OSS. Negotiated the exchange of Bay of Pigs prisoners with Fidel Castro as an independent lawyer under backdrop of the missile crisis, securing the freedom of nearly 10,000 people. Portrayed by Tom Hanks in "Bridge of Spies".
Scope and Content
Reel 5 of the English language version of "The Nazi Plan" produced by Twentieth Century Fox with new graphics. (The order of this reel is slightly different that the version shown in the Nuremberg courtroom - see RG-60.2465). Title: "1944" "Conference after Hitler's escape from the bombing plot 20 July 1944." Hitler with Mussolini and others at the Fuehrerhauptquartier (FHQ). Mussolini leans out of a train window and speaks to Hitler. Goering, Funk, Sauckel, Speer, Dr. Sauer, Lammers, Himmler, Goebbels, Guderian, Fegelein, Bormann, Jodl are all present. The narrator notes that Goebbels was appointed plenipotentiary for the total war effort. Title: "People's Court Trial Concerning Plot 20 July." Judge Roland Freisler berates bomb plotters Josef Wirmer and von Schwanenfeld. Brief close-up of Phillip Bouhler in the audience. Title: "Major Rehmer decorated for his role in suppression of the 20 July plot hails unity of NSDAP and Wehrmacht July 1944." Title: "55th Birthday of Hitler 20 April 1944." [In the German version, this appears before the conference after Hitler's escape from the bomb plot footage]. Goering, Keitel, Doenitz greet Hitler. People of Berlin celebrating Hitler's birthday with a parade and flags. A woman places a sign on a pile of rubble that reads "Unsere Mauern brachen -- unsere Herzen nicht!" [They may break our walls but not our hearts.] The End; 20th Century Fox logo.
Note(s)
Some of the sequences in the English version have been edited down. Credits: Legal Supervision by James B. Donovan, Commander U.S.N.R. Search teams commanded by Budd Schulberg, Lieutenant U.S.N.R. Film Editors: Robert Webb, Robert Parrish, and John McCafferty. There is also a thank you to Col. Darryl F. Zanuck for making the adapted English version possible.
"The Nazi Plan" was shown as evidence at the International Military Tribunal (IMT) in Nuremberg on December 11, 1945. It was compiled by Budd Schulberg and other military personnel, under the supervision of Navy Commander James Donovan. The compilers took pains to use only German source material, including official newsreels and other German films (1919-45). It was put together for the US Counsel for the Prosecution of Axis Criminality and the US Office of the Chief Counsel for War Crimes. The film was received in evidence as IMT exhibit USA-167. Summary from NARA story card (archive source number 238.1): "On the activities and policies of the National Socialist Party in Germany, 1921-1944, particularly as reflected in the speeches of Adolf Hitler. Shows much of the pagentry associated with the speeches. Consists of four parts: Part I: The rise of the NSDAP, 1921-1933 (reels 1-2); Part II: Acquiring totalitarian control of Germany, 1933-1935 (reels 3-8); Part III: Preparation for wars of aggression, 1935-1939 (reels 9-16); and Part IV: Wars of aggression, 1939-1944 (reels 17-22)."
Subjects
- TRAINS
- BOMBINGS
- FREISLER, ROLAND
- MUSSOLINI, BENITO
- JODL, ALFRED
- TRIALS
- KEITEL, WILHELM
- WEHRMACHT (GERMAN ARMY)
- SIGNS/POSTERS
- FUNK, WALTHER
- MARCHING
- SPEER, ALBERT
- GOEBBELS, JOSEPH
- RUBBLE
- FHQ (FUEHRERHAUPTQUARTIER)
- SPEECHES
- GOERING, HERMANN
- HIMMLER, HEINRICH
- BOUHLER, PHILIPP
- FLAGS
- PARADES
- DOENITZ, KARL
Places
- Berlin, Germany
- Rastenburg, East Prussia, Germany
Genre
- Film
- Documentary.