Over 2000 Rare and Out-of-Print Classic German Videos  for Sale or Rent in the USA Division of Heidelberg Haus Established 1968 German Language Video Center 7625 Pendleton Pike Indianapolis, Indiana 46226-5298 USA Phone 1 + (317) 547-1257 FAX 1 + (317) 547-1263

WAR DOCUMENTARIES VIDEO TAPES
Suggested for scholarly and educational use.

The swift collapse of the Third Reich in the spring of 1945 brought, with the surrender, mountains of films and documents covering the entire period of the Nazi regime. Perhaps no other period in history is as well documented. Many of these films are now historical documents of a time when madness and hate overran mankind. Some films made in those years do not reflect current official views of Germany, its people, or other nations and should be used only with extreme parental discretion and guidance. Almost 55 years have passed since the terrible war and atrocities. The memories and the consequences are still with us today. HOW...WHY... could such a system have arisen and flourished? How many times have the questions been asked? How many answers have been offered? The voices on these video tapes are the voices of history... perhaps those who listen today can help answer the questions posed by these terrible years!

H

Hanged on a Twisted Cross
English language, ca. 120 min. - Biblical theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer was executed by the Nazis just days before the Allies defeated Germany in World War II. This gripping documentary narrated by Ed Asner captures the life, ties, and thought of Bonhoeffer. Using rare archival footage, documents, and visits to original locations, we get an intimate portrait of a man whose life and writings grow in their influence and speak powerfully to issues of our own day some 50 years. later. How does a man of peace come to assist violence in combating unrestrained evil? What do you do when deep-seated patriotism for your nation compels you to oppose your father land and its demonic leader? What course do you take when your love for the Gospel conflicts with your tragically compromised church. What is the responsibility of a follower of God when others are being persecuted and sent to prison camps and gas chambers? As shown in this two-hour program, Bonhoeffer confronted these and other issues with a searching Biblical faith and personal courage in a way that speaks to every generation.

Here is Germany
USA, 1945, B&W, 52 minutes. Considered one of the most impressive documentaries made by the US Government during World War II, this film took over two years to produce. Drawing heavily on hundreds of German motion-picture sources, the film traces the development of Germany as a military power from the time of Frederick the Great to the end of the Third Reich.

The History of the Luftwaffe, A Phoenix Rising
From the ashes of the fires lit in the dog fights of the skies above the carnage of World War I, the Luftwaffe of the Third Reich. No ordinary air force, the Luftwaffe was to become Hitler's dream of conquest and a vital component of "Blitzkrieg".

Hitler: A Career
German, narrated in English, 150 min., Color - This documentary chronicles the life of Adolf Hitler and how his career changed the world. Based on the book by Joachim C. Fest. Several hundred thousand meters of rare and sensational color film were screened and evaluated to this probing retrospective. Many scenes, discovered in various archives, have never been seen before. Impressive photographs were found in private collections.

Hitler, The Fuehrer's Birthdays
Germany, 1994, b&w/Color, 50 minutes, English commentary and subtitles. Under the Third Reich, the Führer's birthdays became major national holidays. This film charts the rise and fall of Hitler's power by examining these annual events. Celebrations of Germany's Volksgemeinschaft in Hitler's early years in office give way to the calculated military demonstration of 1939, when the technologies of Blitzkrieg warfare are unveiled in a 41/2 hour procession before the Führer's reviewing stand. The last desperate months of Nazism find macabre expression in the scenes from Hitler's birthdays of April 1944 and 1945, as followers vow to carry on amidst Berlin's bombed-out ruins. Along with its survey of Hitler's personality cult, this film offers an unabashedly revisionist account of the causes of World War Two.

Historisches Militaerkonzert der NVA 750 years Berlin
ca. 52 min. - Anlaesslich der 750 Jahr Feier Berlins. Ueber 700 Mitwirkende nahmen an diesem historischen Militaurkonzert zur 750 Jahr Feier Berlins teil, darunter auch Formationen in historischen Kostuemen der jeweiligen Epoche.

Hitler: February 10th, 1933
English Subtitles. with sound, 30 min., b&w - An original National Socialist Party election film.

Hitler: The Last Ten Days
England 1973, English dialogue, 106 min., Color - with Alec Guinness. A harrowing account of Hitler's last ten days in an underground bunker with Eva Braun and his staff. Adolph Hitler and the Third Reich is one of the most fascinating stories of all time. Based on an eyewitness account, this harrowing story of Hitler's last days in an underground bunker gives insight to his special breed of madness. Alec Guinness is chilling as The Fuehrer, who sits with chief leaders on his 56th birthday and watches the collapse of Nazi Germany while eating chocolate cake. As the reports of advancing Red Army troops reach him, Hitler is married to his mistress, Eva Braun. The guests are each given a silver-framed picture of The Fuehrer and two cyanide capsules.

Hitler's Home Movies
Silent, 5 hours, b&w and Color - 5 individual videos of Hitler's home movies lost for 50 years. A must for all history buffs! These are home movies and have no sound.
Out of print. Rental Only.
May be rented as single videos or as a set.
Counts as 4 rentals when rented as a set!

Hitler, Portrait of a Tyrant
Color/b&w, English language, 30 min. - In this video shocking revelations are brought to light on the public and personal life of one man who changed the face of world history. Narrated by: Hal Holbrook.

Hitler's Master Race: The Mad Dream of the S.S.
1985, 30 min., b&w/Color - "It is the curse of greatness that we must step over dead bodies to create new life. We must cleanse the soil or it will never bear fruit.: Such was the dream of Adolf Hitler - a dream brought to life by the creation of the S.S., the most brutal and prestigious cult of men to arise from the Nazi cause United with the League of German Girls, founded to provide the S.S. with perfect Aryan children, they were fanatical followers of Adolf Hitler's edict to wipe out the enemy and build a new race of Aryan supermen. Their devotion to this cause, and the holocaust that resulted, is only part of the incredible history revealed in new and shocking archival footage.

Hitler's War Part 1 - 1940-43
55 min., b&w/Color, English lang. - By June 23rd 1940, Hitler's dream of mastery in Europe had come true as he triumphantly took Paris after only ten months at war, and then launched his ultimate plan for an Eastern front. Opposed by the twin forces of the invincible Russian winter and the indomitable Russian soldier, the Germany army froze and starved outside Moscow. Encouraged by Japan's entry into the war, Hitler's hopes lay in a speedy spring offensive, but weakened elsewhere by the disastrous Battle of the Atlantic, defeats in North Africa, the British bombing offensive, and certain war with the U.S., his 6th Army was crushed and forced to retreat from the Red Army battalions. His resolve unshaken, Hitler bows to the need to re-arm, and in 1943 German teeth are clenched as the struggle begins to reestablish supremacy by any means. This video narrates Hitler's early war, using much newly discovered footage including color material shot by Eva Braun at the Berghof.

Hitler's War Part 2 - 1943-45
55 min., b&w/Color, English lang. - It is 1943 and Germany;s triumph is turning into disaster. With 4 armies lost at Stalingrad, the Afrika Korps defeated and the submarines naturalized by radar, Germany's morale waivers. By 1944 much ground is lost, and the fight is against time as Hitler faces losing the Ukraine, crippling air-raids on Berlin, and an acute shortage of troops. Not even the last desperate deployment of the terrifying flying bombs can turn the tide. With the 1944 allied invasion, the defeat of Rommel's troops, the relentless Soviet military machine, and the French winter counteroffensive leading to the Battle of the Bulge, the crisis, deepened. Hitler was ill, threatened with assassination by his own generals, and the fuel and ammunition were running out in the face of the advancing allied forces closing in on a stricken Berlin, making it only a matter of time before Hitler's war would be over. This video depicts Hitler's crisis yeas using rare archive footage much of which has been unavailable in the West since World War II.

Die Hoelle von Verdun - Douaumont
1931, b&w, ca. 84 minutes, German dialogue. This film re-recreates the battles for Fort Dauaumont, a French stronghold captured by the Germans during the Battle of Verdun. Using re-created battle scenes, animated maps, spoken dialogue sequences, and some original World War 1 footage, it shows German and French troops mobilizing, and German troops capturing, holding, and losing the Fort between February and October of 1916. German officers who fought in these battles participated in the making of this film. Directed by Heinz Paul.

How Hitler Lost the War
b&w/color, 67 min. - This excellent program provides an alternate view of the Nazi's military strategy during the war. With gripping firsthand accounts by German officers. Knowledgeable German officers under the Reich provide firsthand accounts of the effect of Hitler's decision to storm Poland, to pull up short of annihilating the British in France, to alienate the sympathetic Ukrainians, to delay the advance on Moscow, and, finally, to ignore the revolutionary potential of the jet fighter. Rare film footage lost for over forty years combined with gripping stories highlight this dramatic video account of a turning point in world history as told by the German officers who were there.

Hitler's Master Plan
Color/b&w, 52 min., English language - The pride and comradeship of the German people soon degenerates into fear and suspicion as Hitler mobilizes against Europe and war breaks out. With his deadly Master Plan revealed, the Germans find themselves in a country they barely recognize - where political terrorism, denunciation and genocide are official government policy, and survival depends on absolute allegiance to Hitler.

Holocaust, the TV series
Original English 7 ½-hour TV program, in 2 cassettes, in color. The story of man's inhumanity to man. 
(Counts as two (2) rentals)

Holocaust

• Holocaust- Liberation of Majdanek #1
  60 min. English - This Russian footage has never been shown in the West. Majdanek was the only camp still in operation upon its liberation.The concentration and extermination camp Majdanek, near Lublin, was erected in 1941, and liberation on July 23, 1944. The speed of the Soviet advance gave the Germans no time to destroy or conceal evidence of the atrocities they had committed. Captured on film are SS Officers and Kapos appearing before a Russian Tribunal at Lublin, They are confronted by surviving inmates who are giving evidence against the accused for their hideous war crimes. It culminated in their deserved conviction and execution by hanging.

  Order # BBB 25  $29.98
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• Ravensbrueck and Buchenwad #2
  60 min. English, This Russian footage has never been shown in the West. After being established in the Summer of 1937, Buchenwald soon developed into one of the largest concentration camps in Germany. In this eight years of existence, approximately 250,000 inmates from 35 countries were imprisoned here. More than 50,000 of them died during the camps reign of terror. Ravensbrueck: Women from more than twenty countries were inmates between 1939 and 1945 in the Ravensbrueck concentration camp in Germany. The aim of this documentary is to keep alive the memory of the fate and the inhuman treatment that was suffered.

  Order # BBB 26  $29.98
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• Theresienstadt Camp # 3
  English language, ca. 60 min. - Between 1941 and 1945, the little fortress town of Theresienstadt in Czechoslovakia was the transit camp to the death camps in the East. The Jews deported there from 1941 onwards were led to believe it was an "end camp" from where they would not be deported further: the thousands of old and prominent Jews from Germany, Austria and Holland deported there from 1942 onwards were promised a comfortable and peaceful life in the 'Reich home for the aged' and hoodwinked into signing over to the S.S. their properties and assets. In reality, they also would be sent off the the death camps in the east. From 1943, the Nazis developed Theresienstadt into a "sow camp" with which they could deceive the outside world as to what was really happening to the Jews of Europe. In June 1944, a Danish and International Red Cross delegation allowed itself to be completely deceived when they inspected this fraudulent 'Jewish settlement'.

  Order # BBB 27  $29.98
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• The Yellow Star #4
  English language, ca. 85 min. - The persecution of the Jews in Europe from 1933-45. Adolf Eichmann was asked how he could explain the killing of 6 million Jews. He answered "One hundred dead are a catastrophe, a million dead are a statistic". From the day I was liberated from the concentration camp, I have devoted my life to tracking down those people responsible for these crimes. Most of us who survived the camps are no longer alive and meanwhile, half of the worlds population have been born since the war. It is important that we who survive inform people who are too young to know the past from personal knowledge. The murder of 6 million Jews must never be reduced to a statistic. We must not only remember the dead, we must also explain what happened to them and why. Only in that way can we keep such a disaster from ever happening again The film "The Yellow Star" is an important document, it serves as a remembrance, a lesson and a warning. Simon Wiesenthal. Oscar nominated.

  Order # BBB 28  $29.98
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• Buchenwald- The Lucky One
  English, 168 Allied airmen were the lucky ones. Scarred for life, this is their story and what they saw while interred in the camp.

  Order # BBB 29  $ 9.98
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• The Liberation of Auschwitzb/w, 55 min. English - Captain Alexander Voronstov is the only surviving cameraman from the Soviet film crew attached to the 1st Ukrainian Front, who in January, 1945 filmed the liberation of the infamous death camp, Auschwitz. He describes the feelings he and his comrades felt at the horrific scenes that confronted the brave liberators. Only 18 minutes of this footage have ever been shown before in the West. This was released by the Russians as prosecution evidence at the Nuremberg War Crime Trials.

  Order # BBB 30
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Inside the Third Reich
1982, Drama, English dialogue, 240 min., Color -Inside the Third Reich traces the life of Albert Speer, one of World War II's most powerful men. From his work as one of Germany's foremost architects to becoming Hitler's closest confidant, and culminating with his trial at Nuremburg, it is the powerful story about a powerful man. Rutger Hauer stars as Albert Speer, with Derek Jacobi as Adolph Hitler, Blythe Danner as Margarete Speer, Robert Vaughn as Field Marshal Erhard Milch and Sir John Gielgud as Albert Speer Senior.

It Happened Here
1964, b&w, English language, ca. 95 min. - The German invasion of England took place in July 1940 after the British retreat from Dunkirk. Strongly resisted at first, the German army took many moths to restore order. But the resistance movement, lacking outside support, was finally crushed. Then, in 1944, the resistance movement reappeared..."
In Kevin Brownlow and Andrew Mollo's brilliant and chilling re-write of history, Germany has won W.W.II and Nazi troops occupy England. Pauline, an apolitical nurse, hopes only that normal life will return to England. It is only after she accepts a nursing job with the Nazis that she slowly begins to realize the horrifying reality behind the occupation.
Brownlow was 18 and Mollo only 16 when they began this monumental war drama. After eight years of incredible obstacles and bad luck, they persevered with the help of hundreds of volunteers and several saviors, creating one of the most accomplished and remarkable films in independent cinema.

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Judgment at Nuremberg
English language, b/w, 3 hours and 7 min., 2 cassettes. - Stirring courtroom drama, the trial of four Nazi judges accused of war crimes, men who willingly distorted the law to perpetuate the greatest atrocity ever committed against humanity. With Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Marlene Dietrich.

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Kaiserschlacht 1918
1998, English language, ca. 55 min. - Spectacular rare archive footage, expert analysis by Jerry de Groot and John Bourne we have the dramatic story of Operation Michael, the code name for the great German offensive of 1918, planned by General Ludendorff.

Die Kriegsmarine
Germany, 1940, Total running time 45 minutes, English subtitles. - This program consists of two films showing life in Nazi Germany's navy in the early days of World War 2. Battleship on a Voyage paints a vivid picture of life on the battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau in the winter of 1939--1940, as they practice gunnery against aircraft and surface targets. Auxiliary cruiser in All the Seas of the World shows the Kormoran, a surface raider, hunting Allied shipping. Both films on one videocassette.

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Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler in Action
1941, b&w, 40 min. German language, English subt. - On the warpath with Hitler's bodyguard regiment in the fierce battles of Rotterdam and Dunkirk, and the invasions of France, Yugoslavia, and Greece. SS front-line cameramen capture the spirit of the early victorious campaigns as experienced by a single regiment of the Wehrmacht. Scenes of camp life, ceremonies, and combat of this legendary formation.

Leningrad: A City at War
1968, English dialogue, 53 min., b&w - Although Stalin's intelligence reports had revealed a Nazi build-up, when Hitler attacked Russia on June 22, 1941, most of the Red Air Force was destroyed before it could even leave the ground. By August, Leningrad was surrounded, and a joyful Fuehrer had menus printed for the victory dinner in the city's poshest hotel. But Hitler had underestimated the people of Leningrad. Housewives made soup from factory grease and dead leaves. Wooden houses were chopped up for firewood. In the 900-day siege, over one million civilians were either killed by German shells or died of starvation. Still, Leningrad never fell... This is one of the most miraculous stories of World War II - the story of the incredible strength and heroism of a city that, despite its tragic losses, ultimately helped shatter the momentum and morale of the German forces.

The Lost Children of Berlin
English language - Steven Spielberg presents this riveting film about the last Jewish school in wartime Berlin, shut down by the Gestapo in 1942.

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March to the Fuehrer
Germany 1943, German dialogue, ca. 50 min. - Propaganda classic, was a showcase for Hitler's means of building mass hysteria.

Mein Kampf
1960, English dialogue, 117 min., b&w - A devastating documentary that chronicles the rise and destruction of Hitler's fascism.

The Memphis Belle
1944, 43 min., Color, English language - The Flying Fortress, "Memphis Belle," as it led a squadron of bombers on a daring daylight attack on the submarine pens at Wilhelmshaven.

Men against Tanks/Engineers to the Front
Germany, 1941, Germany, 1943, b&w, 19 minutes. Both films on one videocassette. Total running time 47 minutes, English subtitles. German soldiers re-enact combat exploits in this elaborate and frightening film showing how infantrymen battle Soviet armored attacks. b&w, 28 minutes. ENGINEERS TO THE FRONT!: German combat engineers, the men who paved the way for the Blitzkrieg, lift mines, build bridges, force river crossings under fire and eliminate bunkers with flame throwers and explosives.

The Moving Picture Boys in the Great War
U.S.A., 1980, 51 min.- Modern and authentic films of the World War I era to illustrate the changing attitudes toward the War. A must for every collector of WWI information.

Mussolini Visits Hitler
When Benito Mussolini visited Adolf Hitler in September 1937, a million people jammed Berlin's Olympic Stadium and adjoining Mayfield to hear speeches and witness a spectacular military tattoo. This original Nazi documentary also features scenes of Mussolini meeting with Nazi leaders in Munich, watching the Germany Army's field maneuvers, visiting with Göring and reviewing military parades. Germany, 1937, b&w, 31 minutes, English subtitles.

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