“History of the German Submarines 1914-1945”
In Germany the Kriegsmarine played no role for many centuries. It was not until Kaiser Wilhelm II built a fleet of his own to protect the German colonies and defend against a British naval blockade. Being hopelessly under the British navy, the Imperial Admiralty preferred the use of submarines to achieve the greatest possible military effect with relatively small means. In the Second World War, too, the German submarines played a central role in the naval war until the Allied oversight and new detection systems hunted the hunters. Of the 40,000 U-boat men of the German war marines, 30,000 did not return home. The film tells the exciting story of the German U-boat arm from the early beginnings to the surrender in May 1945. In addition to the 66-minute feature film, the DVD features 117 minutes interviews with important German U-boat commanders: Erich Topp, Otto Kretschmer , Rolf Thomsen, Gerd Kelbling and Reinhard Hardegen.
Status
Released
Original Language
DE
When Allied forces liberated the Nazi concentration camps in 1944-45, their terrible discoveries were recorded by army and newsreel cameramen, revealing for the first time the full horror of what had happened. Making use of British, Soviet and American footage, the Ministry of Information’s Sidney Bernstein (later founder of Granada Television) aimed to create a documentary that would provide lasting, undeniable evidence of the Nazis’ unspeakable crimes. He commissioned a wealth of British talent, including editor Stewart McAllister, writer and future cabinet minister Richard Crossman – and, as treatment advisor, his friend Alfred Hitchcock. Yet, despite initial support from the British and US Governments, the film was shelved, and only now, 70 years on, has it been restored and completed by Imperial War Museums under its original title "German Concentration Camps Factual Survey".
