German forced laborers in Lithuania in 1942
Creator(s)
- Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Digital History
- Unknown German soldier (Camera Operator)
- Österreichisches Filmmuseum
Scope and Content
Forced (or foreign) laborers from the occupied territories (Ostarbeiter) being transported from Russia into the Reich, to Tilsit , in the formerly Russian-controlled part of Lithuania (Tilze, now Sovetsk, Russia). Filmed by an anonymous soldier. Shows the train station where the laborers are registered, deloused, and fed (this is the border station at Krottingen in Eastern Prussia, a sign is visible in the delousing segment, now Kretinga in Western Lithuania). Shows the administrative apparatus of the German forced labor system, as well as the people from the occupied territories. Includes shots of the “Wehrmachts-verpflegungsstelle”, the delousing unit including a crematorium, and the cargo wagons used to ship people from the East to the western parts of the Reich.
Note(s)
This film is featured in the Ephemeral Films Project: National Socialism in Austria. Watch the historic film through an innovative film player showing contemporary images, geographical mapping, and shot-level analysis at efilms.ushmm.org.
The formerly Soviet-controlled part of Kretinga was captured at the beginning of the war against the Soviet Union. Kretinga was also the site of one of the first large-scale destruction of Jews when between June and July when the SS, SD and Lithuanian police massacred the Jewish population of the town as well as the Jews in the Tilsit region.
Subjects
- TRAIN STATIONS
- FORCED LABOR
- LABOR
- CREMATORIA
- RAILCARS
- WEHRMACHT (GERMAN ARMY)
- LITHUANIA
- SOLDIERS/MILITARY (GERMAN)
Places
- Tilze, Lithuania
Genre
- Film
- Amateur.