Survivors with concentration camp tattoos; USO performance; Russian soldiers
Creator(s)
- Museum of Jewish Heritage
- Abraham T. Banen (Camera Operator)
Biographical History
Dr. Abraham T. Banen (1909-2014) served with the U.S. Army in Europe during World War II, likely with the 551st Engineer Heavy Ponton Battalion. Banen grew up in Minnesota, majored in German at the University of Wisconsin, and studied dentistry at the University of Minnesota. Banen enlisted in the Army and landed in Normandy with his infantry battalion in July 1944. In March 1945, the 551st Battalion completed the construction of the 1900-foot pontoon bridge across the swift-moving Rhine River, making it possible for the Allied Armies to cross and initiate the big push to end the war. Banen used a personal 16mm movie camera to document his wartime experiences. He was often relied upon for translations in German and French. He was shot in the back of his knee and awarded a Purple Heart. In January 1946, at 37 years old, Banen started a dental practice in International Falls, Minnesota, married Blanche Bachinski in Guatemala City in 1949, and had three children. From 1972-1974, he served as mayor of International Falls. He lived to the age of 104.
Scope and Content
American soldier walking amongst fly bombs, low buildings in fields with tree cover. CU, bomb,“Nicht Auftreten” Title card: “So well concealed it was never bombed” 01:02:06 Title: “A British plane is consumed by explosion of ammunition train it strafed.” Bombed out plane filmed from vehicle on dirt road. Title: "Trees blown over from blast” Soldiers examine wreckage. “German field piece” Machine and camouflaged fence. 01:04:30 Title card: “Jewish girls from Italy, Belgium, Greece.” Female Jewish survivors near Rostow showing their prisoner tattoos. Girls in dresses, smiling showing their arms with concentration camp identification tattoos. “Rastow” sign. Men relaxing in front of building in camp. Title “USO Show” Makeshift stage in field, USO show for American soldiers: musical performance with horn and accordion; comedy sketches. 01:08:38 Title: “Americans were held prisoners here until we came” American soldiers, “USA” labeled military equipment, Red Cross. Title card: “Road Block" Vehicle on on route to Schwerin, Germany, American soldiers mingling, some wearing white armbands. 01:10:13 Title card: “Soldiers, civilians, refugees line the roads” “Entering Schwerin. Our forward elements met the Russ[ians]. A climactic period!”. In Schwerin, a brigade of trucks, Red Cross on horseback, horse and carriages move through town. Small boats docked in body of water. 01:11:37 Title card: “Castle converted by Germans into hospital”. Castle grounds with people and horse-drawn carts. Plaque for WWI soldiers “1914-1918 Unseren Gefallenen”. 01:13:23 Scenes at an unidentified forced labor camp: farm, laborers, men, women, children. 01:13:23 Title card: “Polish nurse” Nurse with armband and upside-down triangle numbered 2153. “Aftl. Arztin” Title card: “Dress of the forced laborers were these blue & grey striped prison uniforms” Polish women (former prisoners) in striped dresses. One has a "P" pin on her dress. 01:14:13 Title card: “Some liberated Russians, Mongols” Soviet men in coats with handprinted label “S.U.” Vehicle on fire in field, Red Cross truck passing by. Farmhouse. Title card: “A beautiful fresh manure pile right at the front door of this farmhouse.”
Note(s)
Some sequences are introduced with handmade intertitles.
Subjects
- LIBERATION
- SURVIVORS (JEWISH)
- WOMEN
- PERFORMANCES
- SOLDIERS/MILITARY (AMERICAN)
- HOSPITALS
- SOLDIERS/MILITARY (SOVIET)
- RED CROSS
- BOMBINGS
- NURSES
- TATTOOS
- REFUGEES
- SURVIVORS (POLISH)
Places
- Schwerin, Germany
- Rostow, Germany
Genre
- Amateur.
- Film