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SHORT FILMS FROM AND ABOUT THE THIRD REICH - PART TWO

A series of short films and featurettes from and about the Third Reich compiled into a collection:
1. COMEDIAN HARMONISTS SINGEN VOLKSLIEDER

The Comedian Harmonists were an internationally famous, all-male German close harmony ensemble that performed between 1928 and 1934 as one of the most successful musical groups in Europe before World War II. The group consisted of Harry Frommermann (tenor buffo), Asparuh "Ari" Leschnikoff (first tenor), Erich Collin (second tenor), Roman Cycowski (baritone), Robert Biberti (bass), and Erwin Bootz (pianist).  The hallmark of the Comedian Harmonists was its members' ability to blend their voices together so that the individual singers could appear and disappear back into the vocal texture. Its repertoire was wide, ranging from the folk and classical songs arranged by Frommermann to appealing and witty popular songs of the day by writers such as Peter Igelhoff, Werner Richard Heymann and Paul Abraham (composer).   The group's success continued into the early 1930s, but eventually ran into trouble with the Nazi regime: three of the group members – Frommermann, Collin, and Cycowski – were either Jewish or of Jewish descent, and Bootz had married a Jewish woman. The Nazis progressively made the group's professional life more difficult, initially banning pieces by Jewish composers, and finally prohibiting them from performing in public. The group's last concert in Germany was in Hannover on March 25, 1934.

IN GERMAN WITH NO SUBTITLES. APPROXIMATELY 7 MINUTES.

 

2. A SELECTION OF SPEECHES BY ADOLF HITLER - 1932 - 1939
A potpourri, so to speak, of various speeches by Hitler, taken from Wochenschau clips:  1.  Lustgarten, Berlin (1932);  2. Sportspalast, Berlin (10 Feb 33);  3.  Montagehalle, Berlin (10 Nov 33);  4.  Lustgarten, Berlin  (30 Jan 36); 5.  Maifeld, Berlin  (28 Sep 37);  6.  Krolloper, Berlin  (10 Jan 39).

IN GERMAN WITH NO SUBTITLES. APPROXIMATELY 19 MINUTES
 
 
3. A TRAIN ARRIVES IN COLOGNE'S RAILWAY STATION
Very short clip showing the arrival of a train at Cologne's railway station during the time of the Third Reich. 
IN GERMAN WITH NO SUBTITLES. APPROXIMATELY 1 MINUTE. 
 
4. ADOLF HITLER IS NAMED REICH'S CHANCELLOR - 1933
Newsreel clip detailing the appointment of Hitler and his cronies to elite power status in the Third Reich. 
IN GERMAN WITH NO SUBTITLES. APPROXIMATELY 3 MINUTES. 
 
 
5.  ADOLF HITLER REVIEWS THE LEIBSTANDARTE SS 
March past and review of the Leibstandarte SS by Adolf Hitler on a few different occasions.
 
IN GERMAN WITH NO SUBTITLES.  APPROXIMATELY 5 MINUTES.
 
 
 6.  ADOLF HITLER SPEAKS - 3 YEARS' STRUGGLE FOR PEACE 
And yet another speech by Der Führer, this time with subtitles, so you don't miss any of the many happy moments  (uh huh).
 
IN GERMAN WITH HARD-ENCODED ENGLISH SUBTITLES.  APPROXIMATELY 5 MINUTES.
 
 7.  ADOLF HITLER SPRICHT AUF DEM MAIFELD - 28 SEPTEMBER 1937 
Yes, we know this is a repeat from Selection 2 ... but wouldn't you just love to hear it again?
 
IN GERMAN WITH NO SUBTITLES.  APPROXIMATELY 8 MINUTES.
 
 
8.  ADOLF HITLER SPRICHT IM BERLINERSPORTSPALAST - 10 FEBRUAR 1933 
Yes, on the surface, this, too, looks like a repeat from Selection Two --  but that was only a fragment; this is a much longer piece (in case you're still awake).
 
IN GERMAN WITH NO SUBTITLES.  APPROXIMATELY 38 MINUTES.
 
 
9.  ADOLF HITLERS WAHLKAMPFREDE - 27 JULI 1932 
And here, a speech at the time of the National Elections, when the appeal of the National Socialists was starting to wane from earlier highs only to be surprisingly put into power a short time later by Hindenburg.
 
IN GERMAN WITH NO SUBTITLES.  APPROXIMATELY 13 MINUTES.
 
 
10.  ALARM AT THE PASS - A FRAGMENT - THE CAUCASUS, 1943 
A fragment from the color propaganda film Alarm am Pass completed in 1943, but never released for public consumption, as, by this time, the Wehrmacht was starting to head west in its journeys, not east.
 
IN GERMAN WITH OPTIONAL ENGLISH SUBTITLES.  APPROXIMATELY 1 MINUTE.
 
 
11.  ALFRED ROSENBERG TALKS ABOUT HIS LIFE 
We don't know why, but for some reason, the occupying Allied authorities allowed Welt im Film, the postwar verion of Die Deutsche Wochenschau, to distribute this monologue of Alfred Rosenberg, the Party theoretician, to talk about his life on camera.  Not to be outdone by his Führer, Rosenberg prattles on for an unending 25 minutes.  Alas, the joke was on him:  Adolf was known to give monologues to his captive audiences at Berchtesgaden or at his headquarters for more than FOUR HOURS!  Luckily, you won't have to endure Rosenberg competing on that level.
 
IN GERMAN WITH NO SUBTITLES.  APPROXIMATELY 25 MINUTES.
APPROXIMATELY 125 MINUTES TOTAL. VARIABLE QUALITY, BUT IT RANGES FROM POOR TO EXCELLENT FILM QUALITY.

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