WWII Newsreel History of the Third Reich, Volumes 16-20 (5-DVD)

Using newsreel documentary footage, these programs show how Nazi propaganda would distort the events of the war even when defeat was imminent.

Don't be misled by the title: the NEWSREEL HISTORY OF THE THIRD REICH series does not construct a factual history of the rise and fall of Hitler's Reich from newsreel footage screened for the Allies per se, but deliberately presents an 89-minute assemblage of distorted and fallacious, propagandistic newsreel clips shot by the Nazis for German audiences during World War II. The preponderance of footage at hand was seized from the S.S. by the Russians, and it provides a window into how WWII-era Germans perceived the events of the war, and how Hitler's government "spun" those events to them. This sprawling set actually contains the individual installments originally released as Volumes 16, 17, 18 19 and 20 under separate cover. It begins in late 1943, with events including the Hitler Youth training camp, the tank battles at Krivog Rog, the tracking of vehicles on the Eastern Front, and much more (Volume 16). Next up is Volume 17, with such milestones as the gathering of Allied forces at Monte Cassino, Berlin preparation for bombing raids, and visitation of troops stationed on the Channel coast. Then comes Volume 18, Part Two, with 1944 events such as the attempted assassination of Hitler and the Warsaw Uprising. Volume 19 moves later into 1944, with footage of Erwin Rommel's funeral, a parade of the Hitler Youth, and more. Finally, Volume 20 enters 1945, with a look at the Nazi V-2 rockets fired on London, and Goebbels's request that the Germans remain stalwart and keep fighting until the end.