Czechoslovakia and Poland in 1938

Identifier
irn700146
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • RG-60.6995
Level of Description
Item
Languages
  • Silent
Source
EHRI Partner

Creator(s)

Biographical History

Wilbur John Carr, Former Assistant Secretary of State, was the Minister to Czechoslovakia (US Department of State) when German forces occupied Prague on March 15, 1939. Carr closed the Legation in Prague on March 21, 1939 and left his post on April 6, 1939. He died in 1942.

Robert Bittrick served with the United States Army Air Corps during World War II. He enlisted on February 3, 1941 in Baltimore.

Scope and Content

B/W aerial shots from a cable car (it’s shadow can be clearly seen), interspersed with shots of the actual cable car system from the ground, CU of a woman pointing at the trees from the cable car. 01:00:58:2 Title: “Hradec Králové.” Pan, a public park. A shot of a group of people admiring topiary. 01:01:22:11 Title: “Moravska Ostrava.” Pan up, a trolley car drives by, as people walk around the city, shots of people going to and fro. 01:01:47:11 Title: “Poland.” Film is now in color, with a shot of farmers working in the field, followed by a brief shot of a parade in a city. 01:02:10:21 Title: “Horses for Polish Army.” b/w, a large group of horses at a stable, man in white overcoat and hat standing next to a car (the car’s driver?), license plate says “P-13086”. 01:02:37:00 Title: “Chrzanóv.” Pan, a market with stalls set up, followed by two shots of Hasidic Jews walking in the streets. 01:02:58:13 Title: “Cracow.” Various shots of women selling flowers on the street, as well as other produce, in a market area, people walking around a courtyard in Wawel Castle, pan up. Pan, a series of shots of the EXT of Wawel Cathedral, some with large groups of people approaching the camera. 01:04:59:21 Color, a group of women in red headscarves are gathered together, EXT of a building (a church) in the countryside, obscured by both trees as well as a river in front of the camera. 01:05:29:06 Title: “Zakopane.” A dark (night time?) shot of a river, with a woman in a red dress running alongside it, followed immediately by a daytime shot of horse drawn carriages. A man in an animal costume tilts his head at the camera, people walk down a rural sidewalk while carts (and one car) drive by, a shot of the man in the animal costume walking across the street, a woman in traditional costume holding a baby. Pan up, roaring stream, interspersed by shots of a wealthy man and woman sitting in a horse drawn carriage. 01:07:14:11 Title: “The High Tatra.” Pan, a herd of sheep grazing in a field, with heavily forested mountains in the BG. 01:07:52:23 Title: “Lake Morskie Oko.” Pan, a woman and two children are briefly seen on a dock by the lake, a series of (poorly lit) shots of the mountains surrounding the lake. Pan, several shots of a small waterfall. 01:09:37:09 Title: “Czechoslovakia.” Pan, mountains. 01:09:53:01 Title: “Štrebské Pleso.” Pan, mountains, with a ski jump faintly seen in the distance. Pan, a castle like building (possibly the modern day Grand Hotel Kempinski High Tatras) with the word “Reštaurácia” written on the side, people in a driveway to the hotel looking down into the valley. Pan, an outdoor cafe next to the hotel, large crowds of people are eating, waiters serving them. A couple looks at cloth (lacework? clothing) being sold. Pan, another shot of the driveway and the valley below. 01:10:58:21 Title: “Great Slovak Valley from Štrebské Pleso.” Pan, the valley. 01:11:26:09 Title: “Slovak Costumes.” (note, the title card has an apparent error in it; for a few frames before it cuts, the title card instead reads “Saratoga Springs”) 01:11:36:18 Title: “Važec.” Pan, dozens of ducks walk down a dirt road, young children playing with them, CUs of the ducks. Pan, a valley with bundles of wheat in the FG, and mountains in the BG. A brief downward shot of a woman crossing a dirt road, a farmer walking alongside a cart pulled by two oxen that contain bundles of wheat, the man occasionally whipping them. The rear of the cart, someone sitting on top of the hay as the cart drives away. Pan, a series of rural buildings in a small village (never stated, but due to its relative location and architecture, possibly Vlkolínec), with villagers occasionally walking into frame. 01:12:49:12 Title: “Ružomberok.” Pan, people walking along the street, clotheslines strung up between buildings with black clothes hanging from them. 01:13:03:05 Title: “Žilina.” Pan, stalls selling produce are set up in the city center, a building has a sign that says “Buducnost” (Slovak for “The future”). 01:13:18:15 Title: “Along the Váh River.” A shot of a castle on top of a hill on the other side of the river (the castle may possibly be Považský castle). 01:13:34:14 Title: “Trenčianska Teplá.” Pan, a crowd of people in traditional costume walks by the camera towards a specific destination (possibly the church), ducks bathing under a water mill. Townspeople in traditional costume walking by the camera down the dirt paths of the village. 01:14:59:15 Title: “Piešťany.” Pan, People sitting on the Kolonádový most as a couple walks down the bridge towards the camera. Cut to a promenade by a river, with two men leaning against the riverside railing, as four nuns walk past them towards the camera. Two women in traditional costume holding hands and walking towards the camera. Pan, the western entrance of the Kolonádový most, starting on a statue of a man bending metal, and then right. Groups of people (including 3 or so Hasidic Jews) walk across the bridge, which has the words “Saluberrimae Piestenienses Thermae” written on the entrance (Latin for “The wholesome Piešťany Spa”). A brief shot of a group of women standing next to bicycles, and a horse-drawn carriage approaching the camera. 01:15:45:09 Title: “Trenčianske Teplice.” Pan, panoramic view of the town as seen from (presumably) a balcony. 01:16:17:21 Title: “Jihlava.” a series of panning shots of people in a town square, where a market is set up. Cars, trucks, and trolleys line the perimeter of the square, and the clothing is mostly contemporaneous, with some of the older merchants wearing more traditional clothes. Men occasionally walk bicycles through the square. 01:17:33:03 Title: “Žleby Castle.” Pan, a tracking shot of a woman walking along a dirt path, the angle of the shot indicating that the camera is somewhere in the castle itself, pans over to the EXT of the castle. Castle, shot from the ground. 01:17:58:14 Title: “Čáslav...Žižka Tomb.” Pan, a black car drives up a bend and stops in front of the Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Čáslav. Jump cut to a man in a white overcoat (the driver from before) opening the car door. Front entrance of the church. 01:18:28:08 Title: “End of Part One.”

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This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.