Survivors at Dachau; service
Creator(s)
- George C. Stevens (Director)
- Special Coverage Unit (SPECOU) (Producer)
- Library of Congress - Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division (MBRS)
Biographical History
George Stevens (December 18, 1904 – March 8, 1975) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter and cinematographer. During World War II, Stevens joined the U.S. Army Signal Corps and headed a film unit from 1943 to 1946 under General Eisenhower. His unit shot footage documenting D-Day — including the only Allied European Front color film of the war — the liberation of Paris and the meeting of American and Soviet forces at the Elbe River, as well as horrific scenes from the Duben labor camp and the Dachau concentration camp. Stevens also helped prepare the Duben and Dachau footage and other material for presentation during the Nuremberg Trials. In 2008, his footage was entered into the U.S. National Film Registry by the Librarian of Congress as an "essential visual record" of World War II.
The Special Coverage Unit (SPECOU) was placed under the control of the Supreme Headquarters' Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF). The SPECOU consists of 45 people: writers like Ivan Moffat, William Saroyan and Irwin Shaw; cameramen like Dick Hoar, Ken Marthey, William Mellor, Jack Muth; sound operators as Bill Hamilton, who comes from Columbia, assistant directors, as Holly Morse, who has worked with Hal Roach.
Scope and Content
(LIB 6520) Male survivor attempts to hold up a deceased man to the camera. 00:15 They move his body across the room. Other survivors lying down, looking. 00:41 Male survivors lying on the floor, filling the barrack, with blankets, looking at the camera. 00:54 CUs of five different men silently looking at the camera, not moving. 01:29 Cleaning process: Men stand in the BG in line for washing. Man with an amputated leg leans on a walking stick, zips up his pants. 01:43 Men washing each other with the hose. 01:53 CU of the water hose reel. 01:58 A soldier puts powdered soap from buckets in a dispenser that is then linked to the hose. 02:13 Survivor attempts to lift and hold another unconscious inmate for the camera. Appears to be a corpse. Survivors lying down to his right and left look at camera. 02:59 Courtyard. Various shots of piles of clothes and inmate uniforms. 03:34 Clothes hung up in rows. Light snow. 04:00 Danger sign. 04:05 Naked men washing. Some sitting and some standing. 04:48 Men in hats and suits look at a room with a pile of dead bodies. 05:34 A soldier leads two men outside.05:39 CU on the suited men huddled up and speaking. 05:50 Various shots of fence, barbed wire. 06:55 Two men pulling a wooden cart with men covered in blankets sitting on it. Three men push the cart from the back. Men walking back and forth carrying boxes. 07:10 Men and uniformed soldiers hold waving flags (service at Dachau?). Flags with the Star of David. French tricolor flag. Flags with sickle and hammer. American flag. British flag. All men look in the same direction, some crying or wiping tears.
People
- Stevens, George, 1904-1975.
Corporate Bodies
- United States. Army. Signal Corps. Special Coverage Unit
Subjects
- BARRACKS
- FLAGS
- DACHAU
- SNOW
- CORPSES
- STEVENS, GEORGE
- BARBED WIRE
- SURVIVORS
- CONCENTRATION CAMPS (LIBERATION)
- CLOTHES
- SOLDIERS/MILITARY (AMERICAN)
Places
- Dachau, Germany
- , Unknown
Genre
- Film
- Unedited.